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SECOND  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA: 

18T4. 


EEPORT  OF  PROGRESS 


ON  THE 

BROWN  HEMATITE  ORE  RANGES 

OF 

LEHIGH  COUNTY 


WITH  A 

DESCRIPTION  OP  THE  MINES 

LYING  BETWEEN 

BMAUS,  ALBUETIS  AND  FOGELSYILLE. 

Bt  FREDERICK  PRIME,  Jb., 

ASSISTANT  GSOLOOIST. 


HARRISBURG : 

Published  by  the  Board  of  Commissu' 

FOU  THE  SECOND  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY 

1815. 


Entered,  for  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania,  in  the  year  1875,  according 

to  acts  of  Congress, 

By  JOHN  B.  PEARS  E, 

Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners  of  Geological  Survey, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


LANE  S.  HART. 
State  Printer  and  Binder, 


BOARD  OF  COMMISSIONERS. 


His  Excellency,  JOIHST  F.  IIARTRANFT,  Governor, 

and  ex-officxo  President  of  the  Board,  Harrisburg. 


Ario  Pardee,  - - - 

- 

- Hazleton. 

William  .A.  Ingha^i, 

- Philadelphia. 

Henry  S.  Eckert,  - 

- 

- Reading. 

Henry  McCormick,  - 

- Harrisburg. 

James  Macfarlane,- 

- 

- Towanda. 

JoHN  B.  Pearse, 

- Philadelphia. 

Robert  Y.  Wilson,  M.  D., 

- 

- Clearfield. 

Hon.  Daniel  J.  Morrell, 

- Johnstown. 

Henry  W.  Oliver,  - 

- 

- Pittsburg. 

Samuel  Q.  Brown,  - 

- 

- Pleasantville. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  BOARD. 

John  B.  Pearse,  -----  Philadelpliia 


STATE  GEOLOGIST 

Peter  Lesley,  ------  Philadelphia. 


Lafayette  College,  Easton,  Pa.,  ) 

31,  1874.  ) 

Prof.  J.  P.  Lesley, 

State  Geologist: 

Sir  : — Ilerewith  I present  to  you  the  report  of  the  work  done 
in  the  Lehigh  District  during  1874. 

Owing  to  the  lateness  of  the  season  when  fieldwork  was  com- 
menced, the  small  size  of  the  party,  and  the  absence  of  suita- 
ble instruments  until  almost  the  close  of  the  work,  it  was  im- 
possible to  cover  as  much  ground  as  had  been  anticipated. 
Almost  the  whole  of  the  time  has  been  spent  in  an  examination 
of  the  Brown  Hematite  ores  of  Lehigh  county ; merely  those 
portions  of  the  primary  rocks  and  the  slates  having  been  ex- 
amined which  immediately  adjoined  the  limestone.  The  whole 
of  the  topographical  work  has  been  done  by  my  aid,  Mr.  Ellis 
Clark,  Jr.,  and  the  accompanying  map  shows  the  care  and  skill 
with  which  he  has  accomplished  his  task. 

Mr.  Joseph  R.  Shimer,  niy  Assistant  in  the  College,  rendered 
me  much  valuable  assistance  during  the  summer,  being  con- 
stantly employed  in  the  field ; and  since  then  has  been  engaged 
in  analytical  work. 

Mr.  Richard  J.  Fogel  acted  as  rodman  towards  the  close  of 
the  season,  and  was  of  great  use  to  me  in  my  visits  to  the  dif- 
ferent mines. 

I desire  to  acknowledge  the  obligations  I am  under  to  Robert 
H.  Sayre,  Esq.,  General  Superintendent  and  Engineer  of  the  Le- 
high Valley  railroad  ; William  Lorenz,  Esq.,  Chief  Engineer  of 
the  Philadelphia  and  Reading  railroad ; Mr.  Robert  H.  Fogel, 
of  Fogelsville ; Mr.  J.  W.  Mickley,  of  Hokendauqua ; the  Fa- 
culty of  Lafayette  College,  and  loany  others,  for  assistance  ren- 
dered on  various  occasions. 

Yours  respectfully, 

FREDERICK  PRIME,  Jr. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTEATIONS, 


Plate  I. 
Plate  II. 

Plate  III. 

Plate  IV. 

Plate  Y. 
Plate  YI. 
Plate  YII. 

Plate  YIIL 


Poll  in  Limestone  two  miles  south-west  of 
Fogelsville,  Lehigh  county,  Pa,  - 
Junction  of  Lower  Silurian  Limestones 
and  Hudson  River  Slates,  two  miles 
south-west  of  Foglesville,  - 
Stratification  and  cleavage  of  Hudson  Riv- 
er Slates,  two  and  a half  miles  south 
south-west  from  Foglesville, 

Overturned  anticlinal  in  Hudson  River 
Slates  near  Fogelsville,  - - - - 

The  Thomas  Ore  Washer,  - . _ 

The  Mickley  Gudgeon.  - . . - 

Bradford’s  Iron  Ore  and  Flint  Separator, 

end  elevation, 

The  same,  side  elevation,  . . - 


PAGE. 


9 


43 


45 

47 

49 

51 

53 

55 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

CHAPTEE-  I. — Short  sketch  of  the  Topography  and  Ge- 
ology of  the  District  under  examination,  - - 1 

CHAPTER  II.— The  Potsdam  Sandstone  No.  I,  in  Lehigh 

county, 5 

CHAPTER  III. — The  Magnesian  Limestone  No.  II,  in  Le- 
high county,  - - _ _ - * . 7 

CHAPTER  IV. — The  Brown  Hematite  (Limonite)  ores  in 

Lehigh  county, - 15 

CHAPTER  V. — First  range  of  Mines. 

Wagenhorst’s  mine.  No,  44  on  the  map,  - - 17 

Wescoe’s  mine,  No.  43,  . - - . - 17 

Aaron  Hertzog’s  mine,  No.  42, 17 

Harry  Kaiser’s  mine.  No.  41,  - - - - - 18 

Meitzler’s  mine.  No.  84,  . - . . - 18 

Meckley’s  mine.  No.  56,  - - - - - 18 

Ludwig  Hertzog  and  Liess’s  mine.  No.  32,  - - - 18 

Jonas  Kreischmann’s  mine,  No.  33,  - - - - 18 

Jonas  Kreischmann’s  mino.  No.  34  and  35,-  - - 19 

Gaumer’s  mine,  No.  77, 19 

Kerschner’s  mine.  No.  75,-  - - - -19 

Kerschner’s  mine,  No.  76,  - - - - - 19 

Henry  Schwankweiler’s  mine.  No.  9L  - - - 20 

Crane  Iron  Co’s  mine,  No.  72,  - • - - - 20 

Allentown  Iron  Co’s  mine.  No.  73,  - - - - 20 

Wiand’s  mine,  No.  74,  - ....  20 

Reuben  Laros’  mine.  No.  92,  - - - - 21 

Marck’s  mine,  No.  93, 21 

Hensingerville  pits,  - - . - - - 21 

J.  Barber  & Co’s  mine.  No.  49,  • • - - - 22 

Hensinger  mines.  No.  50,  51,  - - • - - 23 

Thomas  Iron  Co’s  mine.  No.  52,  - - ' -23 

Hensinger  and  Saul’s  mine.  No.  54,  - • 23 


viii  D. 


CONTENTS. 


Mickley’s  mine,  IlTo.  55,  - . , 

Hensinger  Heirs’  trial  pits, 

Kiefer  mine,  Ko.  58,  - 

Desk’s  mine,  Ko.  57, 

CHAPTER  VI. — Second  Range  of  Mines. 
Ludwig’s  mine,  Ko.  40, 

Ludwig’s  mine,  Ko.  39, 

Butz’s  mine,  Ko.  38,  - 

Jager’s  mine,  Ko.  37,  - - • . 

Henry  Kaiser’s  mine,  Ko.  30, 

Blank’s  mine,  Ko.  30, 

Smoyer’s  mine,  Ko.  28,  • 

Smoyer’s  mine,  Ko.  31,  - - - 

Smoyer’s  mine,  Ko.  80, 

Smoyer’s  mine,  Ko.  79,  - 

Benjamin  Smoyer’s  mine,  Ko.  78, 

J.  Smoyer’s  mines,  Ko.  27,  83,  • 

Benj.  P.  Smoyer’s  mine,  Ko.  81,  - 
Judith  Smoj^er’s  mine,  Ko.  82,  - 
T.  Smoyer’s  mine,  Ko.  90,  - 
A.  Smoyer’s  mine,  Ko.  85,  - 
Reuben  Romig’s  mine,  Ko.  70,  • 

P.  Romig’s  mine,  Ko.  68  and  69, 

Reuben  Romig’s  mine,  Ko.  64,  - 
Werner  and  Reinhardt’s  mine,  Ko.  66, 
Milton  Lauer’s  mine,  ISTo.  65, 

Schmidt  and  Ritter’s  mine,  Ko.  67,  • 

CHAPTER  VTI. — Third  Range  of  Mines. 
Weilersville  abandoned  mine, 

James  Weiler’s  mine,  Ko.  29,  - 

Crane  and  Thomas  Iron  Co.’s  mine,  Ko.  23, 
Frank  S.  Lichtenwallner’s  mine,  Ko.  25, 
Smoyer’s  mine,  Ko.  26,  - - • 

Gernart’s  mine,  Ko.  24,  - 

James  Scholl’s  mine,  Ko.  94, 

Jonas  Bastian’s  mine,  Ko.  62, 

Elw^m  Bastian’s  mine,  Ko.63,- 
Francis  Guth’smine,  Ko.  61, 


PAGE. 

- 24 

- 24 

- 24 

. 24 


- 25 

- 26 
26 

- 26 
- 26 
- 26 

- 27 

- 28 
- 28 
• 28 
. 28 

28 

- 28 
- 28 
. 28 
. 28 
28 
28 

• 28 

- 29 

- 29 
. 29 


. 30 

- 30 

- 30 

• 30 

- 30 

- 31 

- 31 

- 31 

• 31 
. 31 


CONTENTS.  D.  ix 

PAOE. 

CII AFTER  VTII.- — Fourth  Range  of  Mines. 

Francis  Breiiiig’s  mine,  ISTo.  17,  - - • > -32 

Oliver  Moser’s  mine,  No.  20,  - • • - • 33 

Thomas  Breinig’s  mine.  No.  19, : - - • - 33 

Nathan  Whitely’s  mine,  No.  21,  - • - - 35 

Wm.  B.  Fogel’s  mine.  No.  18,  - - - - - 35 

Henry  Schwartz  and  W.  B.  Fogel’s  mine.  No.  22,  - 36 

Alwyn  Bortz’s  mine.  No.  95, 36 

Alwyn  Bortz’s  mine.  No.  14,  - - - 36 

A.  Bortz  and  Wm.  Koch’s  mine.  No.  13,  - - - 36 
Jonas  Grammis’  mine,  No.  12,  - - . . 37 

Jonas  Grammis’  mine.  No.  96,  - - • - - 37 

Gackenbach’s  mine.  No.  60, 37 

Francis  Fischer’s  mine.  No.  59,  ....  .38 

J.  and  D.  Smith’s  (Schlousc’s)  mine.  No.  16,  - - 39 

Haines’  mine.  No.  15, 39 

Charles  Miller’s  mine.  No.  97,  - - - - 39 

Charles  Miller’s  mine.  No.  9,  - - - 39 

J.  D.  Scholl  & Co’s  mine.  No.  11,  * - - - 40 

Jacob  Steininger’s  mine.  No.  8, 40 

Jacob  Steininger’s  mine.  No.  10.  - - • - 40 

Moyer’s  mine.  No.  6, 40 

Henry  Stein’s  mine.  No.  5,  -----  40 

Henry  Stein’s  mine.  No.  98,  - - - - - 41 

Jesse  Laros’  mine.  No.  4, 41 

Jesse  Laros’  mine.  No.  3, 41 

Levi  Lichtenwallner’s  mine.  No.  2,  - • 42 

Kreemlich  and  Lichtenwallner’s  mine.  No.  7,  - 42 

Henry  Litzenherger’s  trial  pits.  No.  1,  - - - 42 

CHAPTER  IX. — The  Relation  of  the  ores  to  the  rocks,  - 44 

CHAPTER  X. — The  Hudson  River  Slates  in  Lehigh  Co.,  - 46 

CHAPTER  XI. — Mining  and  Washing  of  Brown  Hema- 
tite ores  in  Lehigh  county,  - - - - - 50 

Thomas  Iron  Company’s  mine,  No.  71,  - - * - 56 

John  Sharp’s  mine,  No.  53,  56 

T.  Smoyer’s  mine.  No.  89,  - - - - - - 56 

The  Map.  Note  by  the  State  Geologist,  - - - - 57 

Index  of  names  and  places,  33 


IIKPORT  OF  PRO(iIlFSS 


IN  THE 

LEHIGH  IK0:N^  ore  DISTRICT, 

1 874. 

J5Y  FKEPEUICK  PHIME,  Ju.,  A.  O. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Topography  and  Geology  of  the  Distrid. 

If  wo  look  at  any  good  map  of  Pennsylvania  onr  eyes  will  at 
once  be  struck  with  a long  mountain  range,  called  the  Kittatinny, 
or  B1 10  ^Foiintain,  which,  commencing  at  the  Delaware  Water 
Gap  pursues  its  course  entirely  across  the  State  into  Maryland. 
From  the  Delaware  to  tlie  Susquehanna,  a distance  of  104  miles, 
the  course  of  the  range  is  a pretty  uniform  one  of  S.  25°  W, 
Then  for  thirty  miles  the  direction  changes  to  S.  81°  W.,  after 
which  the  mountain  curves  and  takes  again  almost  its  old  direc- 
tion, until  it  passes  out  of  the  State.  At  intervals  along  its 
course  the  mountain  is  five  times  broken  througli  by  rivers,  viz: 
at  the  Delaware,  Lehigh,  Schuylkill,  Swatara  and  Susquehanna 
Water  Gaps. 

Peculiar  curves  in  the  mountain  at  several  points  show  where 
anticlinals  in  the  rocks  occur,  which  pass  diagonally  through  it, 
from  East  to  West,  into  the  valleys  behind.  OC  these  there  is  one 
at  the  Delaware  Water  Gap,  one  at  the  Wind  Gap  and  ten  at  the 
Schuylkill  Gap. 

The  rocky  crest  of  the  range,  which  is  1,G00  feet  above  tide 
at  the  Delaware,  continues  as  an  even  horizontal  ridge  along  its 
entire  course,  being  liere  and  there  interrupted  by  small  gaps. 
Although  the  actual  elevation  of  the  crest  above  tide-water  re- 
mains the  same,  yet  its  apparent  height  diminishes  towards  the 
West  owing  to  the  elevation  of  the  rolling  surface  of  the  valley 
in  front  of  it,  to  the  South. 

This  valley,  called  the  Groat  or  Kittatinny  or  Lebanon  or  Cum* 
b(‘.rland  Valley,  enclosed  between  the  Kittatinny  or  Blue  Moun* 
1— D 


2 D.  F.  PRIME,  JR.,  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS  1874. 

tain,  and  the  liSouth  or  Lehigh  Mountain,  and  consisting  topographi- 
cally of  an  undulating  country,  with  hills  (in  the  district  to  be 
described)  only  100  to  200  feet  high,  extends  lengthwise  for  a thou- 
sand miles,  from  Canada  to  Alabama,  in  an  unbroken  line. 

With  a single  exception  it  is  everywhere  shut  off  from  the  At- 
lantic Seaboard  by  ranges  of  mountains  which  bear  the  respec- 
tive names  of  Highlands,  South  Mountain,  Blue  Ridge,  Smoky 
and  Unaka  Mountains. 

The  exception  just  mentioned  is  in  Pennsylvania.  To  the  west 
of  Reading  the  South  Mountain  disappears  for  a distance  of  GO 
miles,  allowing  the  limestones  of  the  valley  to  spread  out  south-  v 
ward  over  Lancaster  county.  Yet  the  rocks  composing  the  South 
Mountain  only  disappear  from  the  surface.  After  taking  a plunge 
Tinder  the  great  area  of  limestone,  and  re-appearing  at  Millbaugh 
Hill,  they  again  sink  down,  not  to  show  themselves  until  they 
have  crossed  the  Susquehanna. 

The  geological  formations  of  the  Great  Valley  are  all  of  Lower 
Silurian  age.  The  oldest  ones,  those  which  lie  against  the  north 
flank  of  the  South  Mountain,  belong  to  the  Potsdam  Epoch.  They 
are  composed  of  slates  and  a massive  sandstone,  which  is  changed 
to  quartzite  by  the  metamorphic  action  it  has  undergone,  but 
whose  geological  position  may  be  recognized  by  a characteristic 
fossil,  the  Scolithus  linearis.^ 

Above  the  Potsdam  sandstone  or  quartzite  (No.  I)  occur  the 
Lower  Silurian  magnesian  limestones  of  the  Canadian  Period,  (as 
Dana  calls  it,)  corresponding  to  the  Calciferous  sand-rock  and 
Chazy  limestone  of  the  New  York  geologists ; and  to  the  Mag- 
nesian Limestone  and  Saccharoidal  Sandstone  Formation  of  Mis- 
souri. In  the  limestone  valleys  of  Central  Pennsylvania  this  for- 
mation (No.  II)  is  very  thick  and  can  be  subdivided  into  distinct 
members ; but  in  the  Great  Valley  no  such  subdivision  has  yet 
been  made.  No  fossils  have,  as  yet,  been  found  to  guide  us,  and 
the  contortions  and  faul tings  of  the  strata  offer  great  obstacles 
to  such  an  investigation. 

These  rocks  (with  those  of  the  Trenton  period  next  in  order) 
form  a belt  of  country  along  the  southern  side  of  the  Great  Val- 
ley, in  Lehigh  county,  but  spread  more  widely  in  Lebanon,  Cum- 
berland and  Franklin,  so  as  to  occupy  half  of  its  breadth. 


♦Supposed  to  be  the  cast  of  a worm-burrow  in  sand. 


GEOLOGY  OF  THE  DISTRICT. 


D.  3 


They  are,  for  the  most  part,  massive  semi-crystalline  and  com- 
pact dolomites,  (magnesian  limestones,)  separated  by  one  or  more 
beds  ot  damourite  slate  intercalated  between  them.  In  many 
places  this  slate  has  become  altered  to  a white  or  yellow  clay, 
closely  resembling  kaolin ; and  with  these  slates  and  clays  the 
brown  hematite  ores,  which  characterize  this  district,  are  inti- 
mately associated. 

* The  dolomite  rock,  or  magnesian  limestone  itself,  is  almost 
universally  colored  blue  or  gray,  a fact  due  to  the  carbon  it  con- 
tains chert  and  minute  crystals  of  iron  pyrites  are  common  in 
it.  Crystals  of  quartz  also  occur  in  it. 

Receding  from  the  South  Mountain  still  further  towards  the 
middle  line  of  the  valley,  the  next  formation  met  with  and  over- 
lying  the  dolomite  is  the  Trenton  or  fossiliferous  limestone,  which 
however,  seems  to  occur  only  at  a few  points  in  the  valley ; in 
fact,  it  has  been  certainly  recognized  thus  far  only  in  Northamp- 
ton county  by  means  of  certain  well  known  fossils ; but  no  sub- 
division of  the  formation  under  its  New  York  names  of  Birdseye, 
Black  River  and  Trenton  limestones,  has  hitherto  been  possible. 

The  Utica  Black  Slate  comes  next  in  order  upwards,  overlying 
the  Trenton  along  the  middle  line  of  the  valley.  But  it  is  very 
thin  in  this  district,  and  has  been  recognized  by  its  color  (due  to 
graphite)  only  at  a few  places.  In  the  limestone  valleys  of  mid- 
dle Pennsylvania  it  is  a thick  formation,  and  makes  a continuous 
belt. 

The  Hudson  River  Slate  Formation  (No.  Ill)  occupies  all  the 
rest  of  the  valley  to  the  foot  of  the  North,  Blue  or  Kittatinny 
Mountain,  and  more  than  half  way  up  its  flank.  These  slates,  in 
the  absence  of  the  Utica  and  Trenton,  lie  directly  upon  the  dolo- 
mite rocks  in  this  district ; but  so  great  has  been  the  dis- 
turbance in  the  stratification  in  some  parts  of  the  valley,  that  the 
limestone  sometimes  seems  to  lie  upon  the  slate. 

The  Hudson  Eiver  slates  are  of  great  economic  importance. 
They  stretch  in  a broad,  unbroken  belt  from  the  edge  of  the 
limestone  to  the  base  of  the  Kittatinny  Mountains  and  accompany 
this  range  from  the  Delaware  to  Maryland.  The  lower  portion 
of  this  formation  is  in  places  composed  of  hydraulic  limestone 
from  which  valuable  cement  is  made. 

*If  the  dolomite  is  dissolved  in  hydrochloric  acid,  it  will  leave  a residue 
of  black  carbonaceous  matter. 


4 D.  F.  PRIME,  JR.,  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS,  1874. 

The  Sandstone  of  the  North  Mountain  is  Formation  No.  lY. 

The  nature  of  the  rocks  composing  the  South  Mountain  has 
not  yet  been  fully  ascertained  ; for  although  there  is  a large  body 
of  gneiss,  belonging  to  the  Archaean  Period,  on  the  flanks  of  the 
mountain,  yet  the  central  ridge  or  backbone  is  composed  of  rocks 
whose  character  is  still  somewhat  doubtful.  Magnetic  iron  ore 
occurs  to  a certain  extent  in  this  range,  but  how  much  tliere  is 
of  it  must  remain  an  open  question  until  a thorough  survey  of 
the  mountain  has  been  made.  It  would  seem  as  if  there  must  be 
much  more  ore  than  has  yet  been  discovered,  as  this  mountain 
forms  a portion  of  the  great  range  which  extends  from  Labrador 
to  Alabama  and  is  elsewhere  so  rich  in  iron  ore. 

The  district  to  the  South  of  these  mountains  consists  of  an  un- 
dulating plain  composed  in  its  northern  section  of  red  sandstone, 
or  the  clay  resulting  from  its  decomposition,  belonging  to  the 
Triassic  Period,  and  sometimei!  called  the  Neiu  Red  Sandstone. 
This  covers  Bucks,  Montgomery,  Lebanon  and  parts  of  Pauphin 
and  Lancaster  counties  and  extends  through  York  and  Adams, 
into  Maryland  and  Virginia. 

The  red  sandstone  has  been  frequently  broken  through  by 
eruptions  of  trap,  which  have  in  many  cases  formed  hills — gener- 
ally conical  in  shape — the  most  prominent  being  Haycock  Hill  in 
Bucks  county.  In  some  places  these  eruptions  have  apparently 
brought  the  underlying  Magnesian  limestone  very  near  to  the 
surface. 

It  is  well  known  that  sandstones  and  conglomerates  are  indica 
tions  of  shallow  water,  limestones  of  water  of  such  a depth  that 
marine  animals  can  live  in  it  undisturbed,  and  slates  or  shales  of 
a retreating  sea.  What  then  was  the  case  in  this  district  oi 
Pennsylvania  ? 

In  the  Great  Valley  on  top  of  the  metamorphic  rocks  of  the 
South  Mountains,  belonging  to  tlie  Archman  Period,  first  occurs 
Potsdam  sandstone,  indicating  shoal  water  and  thence  the  con- 
stant attrition  of  the  rocks  composing  it,  subjected  as  the}^  were 
to  the  rolling,  Avearing  action  of  the  waves.  Gradually  the  bed 
of  the  great  interior  Appalachian  Sea  subsided,  and  as  it  did  so 
the  bottom,  no  longer  being  subject  to  the  action  of  the  waves,  per- 
mitted organisms  to  live  there,  Avhich,  by  their  subsequent  decay, 
gave  rise  to  the  limestone ; their  shells  forming  the  carbonates 


GEOLOGY  OF  THE  DISTRICT. 


D.  5 


of  lime  and  magnesia,  the  organic  body  yielding  the  carbon  by 
which  the  limestones  are  colored.  The  subsidence  must  have 
been  a steady,  yet  slow  one,  much  like  that  of  coral  reefs,  as  the 
animals  must,  for  a long  period,  have  continued  to  exist  in  order 
to  form  such  a thick  bed  of  limestone.  Then  the  conditions 
changed  ; for  the  limestone,  instead  of  continuing  an  offshore  de- 
posit^ as  it  had  been,  became  changed  to  an  open-sea  deposit 
giving  rise  to  the  Trenton  limestone,  full  of  marine  organisms. 
In  this  respect  it  offers  a great  contrast  to  the  Magnesian  lime- 
stone in  which  scarcely  any  fossils  have  been  found  in  the  Great 
Valley.  But  the  Trenton  Epoch  did  not  last  long,  for  the  sea 
commenced  its  retreat,  giving  rise  to  slates,  shales  and  impure 
limestones,  thus  forming  the  Utica  and  Hudson  River  slates. — 
With  these  rocks  the  geological  record  of  the  Great  Valley  ends 
and  we  find  ourselves  in  the  Kittatinny  Mountain. 

If  we  return  to  the  metamorphic  rocks  of  the  South  Mountain, 
we  are  unable  to  say  under  what  conditions  they  were  formed,  as 
they  have  been  so  altered  or  metamorphosed  by  heat  and  the  pres- 
sure of  superincumbent  rocks  since  their  deposition,  that  it  be- 
comes impossible  to  recognize  their  original  character. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Potsdam  Sandstone  ( No.  I)  in  Lehigh  County. 

The  South  or  Leliigh  Mountain,  and  all  the  hills  lying  to  the 
north  of  it,  were  formed  long  subsequent  to  tlie  deposition  of  the 
Potsdam  and  Calciferous  rocks,  possibly  even  during  the  Per- 
mian Period.  Asa  proof  of  tliis,  Potsdam  and  Calcilerous  rocks 
(the  latter  containing  small  quantities  of  brown  hematite  ore)  are 
found  forming  small  basins  in  the  interior  depressions  of  the 
mountain-range.  One  such  basin  occurs  near  St.  PetePs  church. 

As  the  contraction  of  the  globe  proceeded,  by  which  the 
South  Mountain  range  was  elevated,  other  parallel  elevations 
took  place  further  north  in  Middle  Pennsylvania,  crimping  the 
strata  into  anticlinal  and  synclinal  waves,  some  of  them  miles  in 
height,  others  minute  and  local.  Since  the  Coal  Era  these  have 
been  washed  away,  leaving  the  present  mountains  and  valleys  to 
represent  the  upturned  edges  of  the  harder  and  softer  formations. 


* See  Newberry  in  Proc.  Am.  Assoc.  1873.  P.  190. 


6 D.  F.  PRIME,  JR.,  REPORT  OP  PROGRESS,  1874 

The  lesser  complications  remain  as  rolls  in  the  rocks  at  the  pre- 
sent surface. 

The  Arclunan  rocks  of  the  South  Mountain  do  not  form  a 
straight  line,  nor  is  the  present  condition  of  this  range  the  same 
as  when  first  elevated.  The  sides  of  the  mountain  were  then 
covered  with  Potsdam  and  Calciferous  rocks,  which  have,  in  many 
places,  disappeared  under  the  levelling  influence  of  air  and  water; 
which  acting  for  ages  on  the  rocks  have,  in  a great  measure, 
lowered  the  high  ridges  which  were  probably  thousands  of  feet 
higher  than  they  now  are,  and  carrying  the  detritus  into  the  val- 
leys, have  partially  filled  them  up. 

The  backbone  or  central  mass  of  the  mountain,  where  it  has 
been  examined  in  Lehigh  county,  consists  of  a pyroxenic  rock 
composed  of  sahlite  and  orthoclase,  with  probably  small  quanti- 
ties of  albite  or  some  other  triclinic  feldspar.  In  appearance  it 
resembles  hyposyenite,  but  differs  from  it  in  containing  sahlite 
in  the  place  of  hornblende. 

A sample  of  the  sahlite  and  orthoclase  from  the  footwall  of  the 
Philadelphia  and  Reading  Coal  and  Iron  Company’s  Mine  near 
Siesholtzville,  Berks  county,  was  analyzed  with  the  following 
result : 

I.  Pyroxene  ; analyzed  by  Mr.  Sydney  Castle. 

II.  Orthoclase ; analyzed  by  Dr.  W.  P.  Headden. 


I. 

II. 

Silica, 

- 

- 

- 

- 

49.30 

66.86 

Ferric  oxide, 

- 

- 

- 

0.53 

Alumina, 

- 

- 

- 

14.98 

18.97 

Ferrous  oxide. 

- 

- 

- 

6.02 

0.62 

Magnesia, 

- 

- 

- 

8.27 

trace. 

Lime, 

- 

- 

- 

21.45 

1.41 

Soda, 

- 

- 

- 

— 

3.61 

Potash, 

100.55 

10.04 

101.51 

The  northern  edge  of  the  mountain-range  is  an  irregular  one  • 
forming  at  times  long  arms  which  stretch  out  into  the  valleys,  or 
else  insulated  islands  ; at  times  coves,  up  which  the  Silurian  rocks 
extend,  like  bays  filled  by  an  arm  of  the  sea. 

Where  examined  in  Lehigh  county,  the  northern  flank  of  the 


GEOLOGY  OF  THE  DISTRICT. 


D.  7 


main  range  consists  of  the  ordinary  typical  gneiss — composed  of 
dark  colored  mica,  feldspar  and  quartz — overlying  the  pyroxenic 
rock.  Nowhere  on  the  northeim  Hank  of  the  main  range,  witliin 
the  district  surveyed  were  either  sandstone  or  limestone  to  be 
seen  in  place,  gneiss  cropped  out  everywhere  to  the  surface. 
This  statement  is  made,  however,  liable  to  later  modification,  as 
this  position  of  the  district  was  examined  very  hastily  and  super- 
ficially. Nor  is  it  true  of  every  part  of  the  mountain  range,  for 
Potsdam  Sandstone  is  seen  flanking  the  mountain  along  the  Le- 
high River  almost  the  entire  distance  between  Emaus  and  Beth- 
lehem, and  in  the  same  geological  position  in  Berks  county. 

The  sand  of  which  the  Potsdam  sandstone  originally  consisted 
has,  everywhere  in  the  Kittatinnv  Valley,  been  altered  to  a hard 
compact  quartzite, sometimes  white,  sometimes  blue,  sometimes  of 
a brownish  hue  ; tlie  latter  due  to  a little  ferric  oxide.  The  quart- 
zite does  not  consist  of  pure  silica,  but  contains  nodules  of  feld- 
spar. which  are  unaltered  where  fresh  pieces  are  obtained,  but  have 
been  changed  to  kaolin  where  weathered.  In  many  cases  the  kaolin 
has  entirely  disappeared,  leaving  very  small  cavities,  which  im- 
part a pock-marked  appearance  to  the  rock.  On  Lock  Ridge  the 
sandstone  covers  the  whole  northern  flank,  being  in  turn  overlaid 
by  limestone.  On  tlie  same  ridge  specimens  of  Scolithus  linearis 
occur  in  the  quartzite  in  great  abundance. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Magnesian  Limestone  Formatioyi  (No.  II, ) and  Brown  Hematite 
(Limonite)  Ores  in  Lehigh  County. 

Overlying  the  Potsdam  sandstone  there  occurs  a limestone,  or 
more  properly  speaking  a dolomite,  to  which  the  Western  and 
New  Jersey  geologists  have  given  the  name  of  Magnesian  Lime- 
stone. Under  this  name  are  included  the  Calciferous  sandstone, 
the  Chazy,  Birdseye  and  Black  River  limestones  of  the  New 
York  geologists.* 

[*There  is  no  little  difficulty  in  recognizing  the.se  subdivisions  of  the  New 
York  Lower  Silurian  Limestones  outside  of  the  limits  of  that  State.  The 
Calciferous  Sandstone  often  contains  little  or  no  lime.  It  does  not  appear 
above  water  level  on  the  Cincinnati  uplift.  Western  geologists  prefer  to  suo- 


8 D.  . F.  PRIME,  JR.,  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS,  1874. 


' The  great  mass  of  this  formation  is  dolomite,  but  tliere  occur 
one  and  possibly  more  beds  of  hydro-mica  (called  damoui-ite  be- 
low) slate  intercalated  in  it.  This  formation  is,  economically,  ol 
the  very  greatest  impor lance,  as  in  it  occur  the  brown  hematite 
deposits  which  form  the  staple  supply  of  the  furnaces  along  the 
Lehigh  river  and  Enst  Pennsylvania  railroad. 

The  limestone,  in  addition  to  containing  the  ore,  is  intrinsically 
of  great  value  to  the  farmers  of  this  region  as  a manure.  Many 
of  the  farmers,  whose  farms  are  situated  on  the  slates  north  of 
the  limestone,  come  down  in  the  winter  and  carry  the  limestone 
to  their  homes,  where  it  is  burnt  in  kilns  and  then  applied  to  the 
soil.  Where  the  hills  are  very  steep,  as  is  generally  the  case, 
the  manure  thus  applied  is  soon  carried  down,  in  great  part,  to 
the  bottom  lands  by  natural  causes. 

At  the  base  of  the  South  Mountain,  at  Hensingerville,  the 
damourite  slate  has  a south-east  dip,  which  changes  on  crossing 
Lock  Ridge  to  a north-west  one,  and  this  continues  together  with 
limestone,  as  can  be  seen  on  the  map,  as  far  as  the  district  has 
been  examined  in  a prolongation  of  the  ridge.  This  proves  to 
be  one  side  of  a synclinal,  as  on  the  road  just  north  of  Lehigh 
Church  the  predominating  south-east  dip  again  appears  and  con- 
tinues until  Thoma<  Breinig’s  mine  is  reached.  At  his  quarry 
just  north  of  the  mine  the  limestone  is  seen  to  roll,  forming  an 
arch  in  the  face  of  the  quarry. 

Crossing  the  Hudson  River  slate  ridge  to  the  extreme  south- 
west corner  of  the  Fogelsville  cove,  the  limestone  shows  itself 
finely  in  repeated  rolls  in  Henry  Stein\s  quarry,  close  to  the 
cross-roads.  (See  Plate  1 on  the  opposite  page.) 

divide  all  below  the  Hudson  River  slates  into  two  formations,  Trenton  and 
Potsdam,  corresponding  very  nearly  to  No.  II  and  No.  I of  the  First  Survey 
of  Pennsylvania.  The  New  York  subdivisions  are  all  perfectly  well  marked 
in  Pennsylvania.  The  rocks  at  Bellefonte,  and  along  Nittany  Mountain  in 
Centre  county,  are  full  of  Birdseye  fossils;  and  Prof.  Prime  reports  (June 
2f>)  outlines  of  three  fossils  found  by  Mr.  Clark  near  Fogelsville,  Lehigh 
counW,  which  Mr.  Hall  supposes  to  be  Chazy  forms. — J.  P.  L.] 


IIOLL  IN  LIMESTONE  TWO  MILES  S.  W.  OF  FOGELSVILLE. 


10  D.  F.  PRIME,  JR.,  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS,  1874. 

At  the  east  end  of  the  ridge  the  limestone  has  a westerly  dip^ 
as  can  be  seen  in  Smith’s  and  Fogel’s  quarries.  This  does  not 
last  for  any  distance,  however,  as  on  continuing  in  this  direction 
the  dip  soon  changes  to  a south  and  south-west  direction  in  the 
Fogelsville  cove,  while  east  of  Smith’s  and  Fogel’s  quarries  it 
becomes  south-east  in  direction,  and  so  continues  wherever  ob- 
served, with  few  exceptions  probably  due  to  rolls  of  the  lime- 
stone, until  reaching  Schantz’s  Mill  north  of  Wescoeville. 

The  dolomite. 

When  fresh,  the  general  appearance  of  the  dolomite  is  cr3^stal- 
line  and  of  a deep  gray  to  grayish-blue  color — the  color  being 
due  to  the  animal  carbon  in  it.  It  generally  occurs  massive  and 
in  thick  beds,  but  these  alternate  with  thin  slaty  beds ; the  thick 
beds  are  often  thinly  parted  by  cleavage,  this  latter  usually 
south-east  in  its  direction.  Occasionalty,  however,  the  color  is 
different,  and  all  possible  changes  between  a blackish  blue  and 
delicate  dove  color  caa  be  found.  The  rock  can  easily  be 
scratched  with  a knife,  and  effervesces  if  touched  with  acid. 
Some  beds  of  the  rock  contain  flints  thickly  strewn  through 
them.  It  generally  contains  a high  percentage  of  silica,  and 
weathers  very  rapidly. 

When  weathered  the  rock  becomes  dull,  of  a dirty  gray  color, 
disintegrated  to  a depth  of  J to  J inch,  and  converted  to  a soft 
sand  retaining  little  or  no  coherence.  It  became  a matter  of 
interest  to  ascertain  what  change,  if  any,  the  rock  underwent 
in  this  process  of  disintegration.  For  this  purpose  two  samples 
were  taken  from  the  base  of  the  quarry  of  the  Lehigh  Iron  Com- 
pany at  East  Penn  Junction  near  Allentown.  No.  I is  the  disin- 
tegrated rock  ; No.  II  the  fresh  rock,  about  one  and  a half  inches 
underneath  No  I.  Both  samples  were  submitted  to  Dr.  Genth 
for  analysis,  with  the  following  result : 

Chemical  change  hy  weathering. 


Carbonic  acid. 

I. 

44.52 

II. 

46.26 

Silica, 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

3.08 

1.12 

Ferric  oxide. 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

1.34 

0.25 

Alumina, 

- 

- 

- 

- 

1.02 

0.45 

Ferrous  oxide,  - 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

0.67 

1.21 

GEOLOGY  OF  THE  DISTRICT. 

1).  11 

I. 

II. 

Manganous  oxide, 
^lagnesia,  • 

- 

0.35 

21.03 

0.44 

20.86 

Lime, 

28.06 

29.40 

100.07 

99.99 

These  results  indicate  that  many  samples  will  have  to  be  care- 
fully selected  and  analyzed,  in  order  to  come  to  any  safe  conclu- 
sion ; for  analyses  show  that  the  dolomite  varies  in  composition 
within  very  short  distances. 

The  above  samples  were  taken  from  below  the  hydromica  or 
damoui  ite  slate  occurring  at  the  quarry.  It  is  probable  that  the 
limestone  analyzed  contains  less  silica  than  the  greater  portion 
of  that  occurring  in  this  valley. 

As  evidence  of  this,  two  other  analyses  of  limestones  from 
the  same  range  are  subjoined.  No.  I is  from  Ruth’s  Quarry, 
leased  by  the  Thomas  Iron  Company,  about  one  mile  north  of 
Alburtis;  analyzed  by  Mr.  H.  Pemberton,  Jr.  This  limestone  is 
used  in  the  Lock  Ridge  furnaces.  No.  II  is  from  tlie  quarry  be- 
longing to  the  Carbon  Iron  Company,  near  Stemton,  on  the  Lehigh 
River ; analyzed  by  Booth  and  Garrett.  This  is  used  in  the 
Parryville  furnaces. 


I. 

11. 

Silica, 

- 

12.13 

Silica, 

7.20 

Carbonic  acid. 

- 

41.29. 

Ferric  oxide  and  alumina. 

0.25 

Alumina, 

. 

1.18 

Calcium  carbonate,  - 

79.50 

Ferrous  oxide. 

- 

0.38 

Magnesium  carbonate. 

13.05 

Magnesia, 

- 

17.97 

Lime, 

- 

27.04 

100.00 

99.99 

In  both  these  cases  the  much  larger  quantity  of  silica  than  in 
that  analyzed  from  the  Lehigh  Iron  Company’s  quarry  will  be 
noticed.  The  siliceous  character  of  the  great  bulk  of  the  lime- 
stone is  confirmed  by  the  following  analyses  of  Mr.  M’Creath’s: 

III.  From  another  part  of  same  quarry  as  I. 

IV.  From  another  part  of  same  quarry  as  I and  II. 

V.  Mrs.  Kuhn’s  quarry  IJ  miles  north-east  of  Trexlertown. 

VI.  Frantz’s  quarry  miles  north-east  of  Trexlertown. 


12  D.  F.  PRIME,  JR.,  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS,  1874. 


III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

Insoluble  residue,  (silica,) 

5.650 

11.260 

13.490 

9.240 

Carbonate  Calciuni,  . - - 

- 51.920 

47.890 

51.603 

48.630 

Carbonate  Magnesium, 

- 41.071 

39.585 

32.917 

40.410 

Sulphur,  . - - - 

- trace. 

trace. 

0.147 

0.005 

Phosphorus,  . . . 

0.011 

0.021 

0.012 

0.012 

The  damourite. 


Near  the  base  of  the  Magnesian  limestone  occurs  the  hydro, 
mica  or  damourite  slate.  As  this  bed  is  of  great  importance, 
being  intercalated  in  the  limestone  and  always  accompanied  by 
the  brown  hematite  ores,  numerous  analyses  of  this  slate  from 
various  localities  are  subjoined. 

I.  From  Krmmlich  & Lichtenwallner’s  mine,  Fogelsville,  Le- 
high county  : analyzed  by  Dr.  Genth. 

II.  From  the  Thomas  Iron  Company’s  mine  at  Hensingerville, 
near  Alburtis,  Lehigh  county : analyzed  by  Mr.  Sydney  Castle. 

III.  From  the  Lehigh  Iron  Company’s  quarry  at  East  Penn. 
Junction,  near  Allentown:  analyzed  by  Mr.  Pedro  G.  Salom. 

IV.  From  another  part  of  the  same  quarry:  also  analyzed  by 
Mr.  Salom. 

V.  From  Hensinger  Heirs’  mine  at  Hensingerville,  leased  by 
Allentown  Iron  Company : analyzed  by  Mr.  M’Creath. 


Silica, 

I. 

49.92 

II. 

45.40 

III. 

59.30 

IV. 

39.80 

V. 

63.31 

Carbonic  acid. 

- 

— 

— 

— 

14.40 

— 

Ferric  oxide. 

- 

0.91 

5.06  ) 

30.30 

2.40 

3.79 

Alumina, 

- 

34.06 

24.69  i 

23.95 

16.16 

Ferrous  oxide. 

- 

— 

— 

— 

trace. 

— 

Magnesia, 

- 

1.77 

13.56 

trace. 

1.94 

4.44 

Lime, 

- 

0.11 

trace. 

trace. 

9.85 

0.15 

Soda, 

- 

0.74 

0.27 

1.51 

0.52 

1.54 

Potash, 

- 

6.94 

5.85 

6.24 

3.34 

7.56 

Water, 

- 

6.52 

4.80 

4.70 

6.00 

2.65 

Phosphoric  acid. 

- 

— 

— 

— 

— 

0.102 

Sulphuric  acid. 

- 

— 

— 

— 

— 

0.110 

100.97 

99.63 

102.05 

102.20 

99.812 

As  typical  damourite  contains  11.77  p.  c.  of  potash  the  above 
first  four  slates  contain  respectively  55.40;  49.70;  53.02;  and 
28.30  p.  c.  of  damourite,  in  addition  to  free  silica,  carbonate  of 
lime  and  magnesia,  and  ferruginous  clay. 

The  phosphoric  and  sulphuric  acids  in  V are  probably  due  to 
the  ore  intermingled  in  the  slate.  The  damourite  slate  has  an 


GEOLOGY  OF  THE  DISTRICT. 


D.  13 


unctuous,  soapy  feel,  is  usually  of  a pale  straw-yellow  to  yellow- 
ish white,  or  sometimes  pink  color,  and  has  a pearly  lustre.  It 
rarely  occurs  in  a perfectly  fresh  condition  ; except  in  some  of  the 
mines  which  are  actively  worked.  On  exposure  to  the  weather 
the  slate  soon  begins  to  decompose  and  is  then  converted  to  a soft, 
unctuous  clay. 

The  Clay. 

This  clay  is  generally  brown  or  yellow  at  first,  but  in  time 
becomes  white,  by  a process  of  leaching.  The  decomposition  of 
the  slate  is  undoubtedly  due  to  the  alkalies  it  contains,  and  this 
decomposition  probably  occurs  even  more  rapidly  when  the  slate 
in  lilace  is  subjected  to  the  action  of  acid  waters  than  when  sub- 
jected to  weathering.  For  the  purpose  of  comparison,  analyses 
of  two  clays  are  here  subjoined  from  Kraeralich  Lichtenwall- 
ner’s  Mine  at  Fogelsville,  Lehigh  county.  They  are  both  from 
the  same  pit  where  sample  I of  the  damourite  slate  was  obtained. 
No.  I is  a white  clay.  No.  II  a yellow  clay  ; both  analyzed  by  Mr, 
Joseph  R.  Shimer,  assistant  in  Metallurgy  in  Lafayette  College. 


Silica, 

1. 

72.164 

If. 

64.568 

Ferric  oxide. 

0.990 

5.637 

Alumina, 

21.764 

22.770 

Magnesia,  - 

0.698 

1.281 

Lime, 

0.224 

0.400 

Soda, 

2.120 

2.800 

Potash, 

3.019 

3.250 

Water, 

4.758 

4.669 

Allowing  for  slight  variation 

105.737 

both  in  composition 

105.375 

and  on  ac- 

count  of  different  degrees  of  weathering,  the  first  notable  differ- 
ence between  the  analyses  of  the  fresh  damourite  slate  and  the 
clay  is  the  great  increase  in  the  silica,  due  to  the  free  quartz  so 
very  common  in  brown  hematite  mines.  In  II  a great  increase 
in  the  ferric  oxide  is  also  noticeable,  due  to  intermingled  ore. 
When,  however,  we  come  to  the  alkalies  we  notice  the  great  loss 
in  the  percentage  of  potash.  This  proves  that  the  decomposi- 
tion of  the  slate  to  clay  is  due  to  the  alkalies,  which  being  solu- 


14  D. 


F.  PRIME,  JR.,  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS,  1874. 


able  in  water,  particiilaily  when  acid,  are  removed,  leaving  the 
insoluble  silica  and  alumina  behind  to  form  the  clay. 

The  clay  has  the  peculiar  property  of  decrepitating  when  ex- 
posed to  a red  heat,  which  renders  it  unfit  to  be  used  around  the 
iron  furnaces. 

The  damourite-slate  and  the  clay  resulting  from  its  decomposi- 
tion occur  widely  distributed,  extending  from  Vermont  to  Ala- 
bama. Until  very  recently  it  was  supposed  that  damourite  was  a 
rare  mineral  confined  to  a few  localities,  and  it  is  to  Prof.  James  D. 
Dana’s  investigations^  that  we  owe  our  knowledge  of  tfie  wide 
distribution  of  the  hydro-mica  slates,  and  that  many  of  the  rocks 
hitherto  called  talcose  slates  are  really  composed  of  damourite. 
Econcmically  they  are  of  the  greatest  importance  as  they  are 
almost  universally  accompanied  by  brown  hematite  iron  ores  in 
the  Kittatinny  Valley.  It  is  highly  probable  that  the  damourite 
slates  were  essential  to  the  formation  of  the  large  body  of  ore 
usually  accompanying  them  ; since  they  always  underlie  this  and 
only  contain  it  in  their  upper  portion.  So  well  known  is  this 
fact,  that  in  the  mines  bordering  the  base  of  the  South  Mountain 
between  Easton  and  Bethlehem  the  miners  cease  looking  for  ore 
when  they  strike  the  white  clay,  which  they  call  “hill-clay,”  and 
are  very  careful  not  to  penetrate  it,  as  otherwise  they  would  be 
drowned  out  of  the  mines  by  the  water  from  the  mountain.  From 
this  circumstance,  constant!}"  noticed  during  the  past  season,  it 
was  supposed  that  the  slate  may  have  acted  as  an  impervious 
bed  to  the  waters  containing  iron  in  solution,  causing  these  last 
to  deposit  the  iron  in  and  upon  the  slates.  More  extended  exami- 
nations during  the  next  season  of  field-work  are  needed  to  test 
this  hypothesis. 

From  the  examinations  thus  far  made,  it  is  highly  probable  that 
the  damourite  slate  is  Rogers’  Upper  Primal  Slate,  to  whicli 
he  assigns  a place  between  tlie  Potsdam  sandstone  and  the  Mag- 
nesian limestone.  At  present  the  geological  position  of  the  slate 
along  the  base  of  the  mountain  is  somewhat  a matter  of  doubt ; 
as  at  one  point  it  has  been  found  intercalated  between  limestones. 
Examinations  at  other  points  will  have  to  be  made  to  determine 

* See  American  Journal  of  Science  and  Arts  III,  4,  p.  366.  Dana  states 
that  the  slate  formerly  known  under  the  names  of  talcose  slate,  magnesia 
slate,  nacreous  shale  and  talcoid  schist  are  damourite  slate,  and  calls  atten- 
tion to  the  discovery  of  a similar  deposit  at  Salm-Chateau. 


GEOLOGY  OF  THE  DISTRICT. 


D.  15 


whotlier  more  than  one  bed  of  this  damonrite  slate  occurs,  and 
whether  the  slate  in  the  Fogelsville  is  positively  of  a different 
age  from  that  at  the  base  of  the  South  Mountain. 


CHAPTER  ly. 

The  Iron  Ores. 

The  groat  bulk  of  the  iron  ore  found  in  the  dolomite  or  lime- 
stone is  known  under  the  names  of  Limonite  or  Brown  Hema- 
tite. It  is  the  hydrated  ferric  oxide,  having  the  formula  2 Fe203, 
3 11,  0,  — containing  when  pure,  59.89  per  cent  of  iron. 

The  ore  occurs  massive,  earthy,  botryoidal,  mammillary,  con- 
cretionary and  occasionally  stalactitic.  It  has  a silky,  often  sub- 
metallic  lustre ; sometimes  dull  and  earthy.  Color  of  surface  of 
fracture  various  shades  of  brown,  commonly  dark,  and  none 
bright;  when  earthy,  brownish-yellow,  ochre-yellow.  The  streak 
is  yellowish-brown.  When  stalactitic  it  forms  tlie  pipe-ore, 
is  rather  scarce.  When  concretionary  it  forms  hollow  spherical 
masses,  commonly  known  under  the  name  of  pot  or  bomb-shell  ore. 
These  hollow  masses  commonly  contain  water  or  masses  of  unc- 
tuous clay ; their  interior  surface  often  presents  a glazed  ap- 
pearance, due  to  a very  thin  coating  or  incrustation  of  oxide  of 
manganese,  which  imparts  a nearly  black  varnish-like  surface. 
Sometimes  the  bomb-shell  ore  is  solid ; its  interior  then  presents 
a honey-combed  appearance,  as  if  from  the  percolation  of  chaly- 
beate waters  into  the  mass  after  the  exterior  shell  had  been 
formed.  In  addition  to  the  limonite,  anotlier  ore  of  iron  is  some- 
times associated  with  it,  knowing  to  mineralogists  under  the 
name  of  lepidocrocite.  It  occurs  in  scaly* fibrous  or  feathery 
columnar  masses,  somewhat  like  plumose  mica.  Its  color  is  yel- 
lowish, reddish  and  blackish-brown.  Streak  brownish-yellow  to 
ochre-yellow.  Its  composition  is  Fe2  03,H2  0,  containing  62.93 
per  cent,  of  iron.  It  does  not  occur  in  sufficient  quantity  to  bo 
of  any  practical  importance. 

The  great  mass  of  the  brown  hematite  ore  occurs  in  small 
pieces  which  have  to  be  separated  from  the  inclosing  gangue  by 
washers. 


IG  D. 


F.  PRIME,  JR.,  REPORT  OP  PROGRESS,  1874. 


In  tlio  western  portion  of  Lehigh  county  the  ore  apparently 
occurs  in  four  lines  of  outcrops,  and  it  remains  to  be  proved  by 
fartlier  explorations  whether  there  are  one  or  two  more  lines  or 
wliether  the  mines  which  lie  to  the  North  and  South  and  are  out- 
side of  these  lines  actually  belong  to  the  exterior  lines  and  have 
only  been  thrown  out  of  position  by  contortions  of  the  strata. 
For  convenience  sake  the  mines  belonging  to  this  uncertain  class 
will  be  grouped  with  tlie  others. 

Along  the  base  of  the  South  Mountain  the  sandstone  and  dolo- 
mite have  a north-west  dip,  away  from  the  range,  except  where 
tlie  dip  has  been  reversed  by  outlying  peninsulars  of  the  moun- 
tiiin.  The  dip  is  generally  18°  to  35°  where  the  rocks  are  exposed 
any  distance  up  the  mountain-side.  This  dip  soon  changes  to  the 
south-east  and  almost  universally  remains  so  until  close  to  the 
Iludson  River  slates  when  it  frequently  again  changes  to  a north- 
west one  and  plunges  under  the  slates. 

The  most  southern  range  of  brown  hematite  mines  shirts  along 
the  North  hank  of  Lock  Ridge,  and  trends  (like  all  the  rest)  north- 
east in  a direction  parallel  to  the  South  Mountain.  The  mines 
all  have  a north-west  dip,  like  the  rocks  underlying  them.  Those 
included  in  this  range  are  WagenhorsFs  ; Wescoe’s  ; Aaron  Hert- 
zog’s;  Harry  Kaiser’s  ; Meitzler’s;  Ludwig,  Ilertzog  and  Liess’s 
Jonas  Kreischmann’s  (two;)  Gaumer’s ; Kerschner’s  (two;) 
Henry  Shankweiler’s ; Crane  Iron  Co.’s;  Allentown  Iron  Co.’s; 
Wiand’s  ; Reuben  Laros’s  ; Marck’s  ; and  those  at  Ilensingerville. 

The  second  range  of  mines  includes  Ludwig’s  (two;)  Butz’s ; 
Yager’s;  Harry  Kaiser’s;  Blank’s;  Smoyer’s  (four;)  Benjamin 
Smoyer’s ; J.  Schmoyer’s ; Benjamin  P.  Schmoyer’s ; Judith 
Schmoyer’s ; T.  Schmoyer’s,;  A.  Schmoyer’s ; Reuben  Romig’s 
(two;)  P.  Romig’s;  Werner  and  Reinhart’s;  and  Lauer’s. 

The  third  range  of  mines  comprises  an  abandoned  mine , J. 
Weiler’s ; Crane  and  Thomas  Iron  Co.’s;  F.  S.  Lichtenwallner’s ; 
Schmoyer’s;  Gernart’s;  J. Scholl’s;  J. Bastian’s;  E. Bastian’s;  and 
F.  Guth’s. 

In  the  fourth  range  are  situated  the  mines  belonging  to  F. 
Breinig;  0.  Moser;  T.  Breinig;  N.  Whitely ; W.  B.  Fogel ; 11. 
Schwartz ; A.  Bortz ; W.  Koch ; J.  Grammis ; Gackenbach  ; F. 
Fischer;  J.and  D. Smith;  Haines  ; C. Miller;  J.  D. Scholl  and  Co.; 
J.  Steininger;  Moyer;  Henry  Stein;  J.  Laros ; Levi  Lichten- 


GEOLOGY  OF  THE  DISTRICT. 


D.  17 


wallner ; Kra3mlich  and  Liclitenwalliier ; and  trial  pits  at  Cliap- 
man’s  Station. 

In  this  fourth  range  will  be  described  F.  Breinig’s  and  those 
in  the  Fogelsville  Cove,  although  it  is  still  uncertain  whether 
they  properly  belong  here  or  form  separate  outcrops. 

On  account  of  the  depressed  condition  of  the  iron  trade  during 
1874  many  of  the  mines  were  stopped  owing  to  the  low  price 
offered  for  ore.  In  many  cases  it  was,  therefore,  impossible  to 
obtain  any  data  or  to  get  any  description  of  the  mines ; lor  as 
soon  as  work  in  the  open  cuts  is  stopped,  the  sides  begin  to  wash 
down,  and  in  a very  short  time  little  or  nothing  can  be  seen,  while 
at  the  same  time  the  pit  fills  with  water,  generally  to  some  depth, 
rendering  access  difficult  or  impossible. 


CHAPTER  y. 

First  Range  of  31ines, 

Wagenhorst''s  Mine^  No.  44.'^*  This  mine  was  not  being  worked 
when  visited ; it  consists  of  a single  excavation  about  30  feet 
deep.  Nothing  could  be  seen  there. 

Wescoe^s  Mwe,  No.  43,  abandoned.  This  consists  of  several 
pits,  none  of  them  very  deej) ; work  has  long  since  been  aban- 
doned, due  to  exhaustion  of  the  ore.  A large  body  of  white 
clay  was  observed  in  tlie  bottom 'of  tlie  mine. 

Aaron  Ilcrlzog^s  Mlne^  No.  42,  abandoned.  This  mine  has 
been  abandoned,  although  the  machinery  is  still  standing.  It 
consists  of  a single  excavation,  in  which  nothing  could  be  seen. 

["^The  numbers  attached  to  these  names  are  taken  from  the  current  notes 
of  the  Surveying  party,  wliicli  moved  irregularly  over  the  area  described  in 
this  Report  of  the  fieldwork  of  1874.  They  were  transferred,  together  with 
the  drawings  of  mines,  roads,  houses,  dips,  itrc.,  directly  ui)on  the  400'  sheets, 
and  again  upon  the  reduction  slieets  of  1,000':  1",  now  published  to  accom- 
pany this  report.  It  was  inexpedient  to  attem]itanygeograpliical  re-arrange- 
ment of  the  numbers,  for  two  reasons:  First,  whatever  arrangement  might 
be  adopted,  must  be  spoiled  by  one  or  two  oversights;  and  secondly,  no  pos- 
sible means  could  be  devised  for  the  symmetrical  interpolation  of  mines  to 
be  hereafter  opened.  Every  one  of  the  numbers  may  be  easily  found  in  the 
map,  which  is  kept  open  and  legible  by  the  omission  of  all  other  names  than 
those  of  villages  and  streams.  A textual  statement  of  the  position  of  each 
mine  is  hardly  desirable  with  Mr.  Clark’s  carefully  constructed  map  in 
hand. — J.  P.  L.] 

2— D. 


18  D,  F.  PRIME,  JR.,  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS,  1874. 

Harry  Kaiser^ s Mine^  !N'o.  41,  leased  by  Mull  and  Hagenbuch. 


This  mine  was  not  being  worked  when  visited,  and  nothing 
could  be  seen.  A specimen  of  the  ore  was  analyzed  by  Mr. 

M’Creath,  and  showed: — 

Iron, 

37.00 

Sulphur, 

0.035 

Phosphorus, 

0.186 

Manganese,  ------ 

3.033 

Insoluble  residue, 

The  fine  ore  contains  a great  deal  of  silica. 

28.99 

Meitzler's  Mine^  84,  leased  by  the  Crane  Iron  Company. 
This  mine  had  not  been  worked  for  some  time,  owing  to  the 
depression  in  the  iron  business.  The  excavation  is  about  ten 
feet  deep,  and  a little  wash  ore  could  be  observed  on  the  sides. 

Bleckley's  Mine^  Ho.  56,  leased  by  Ilagenbusch,  Lehr  & Co. 
Standing  still  all  summer.  The  pit  about  five  or  six  feet  deep. 
Evidently  only  surface  wash  ore  has  yet  been  struck. 

Ludwig^  Hertzog  and  Liess's  Mine^  Ho.  32.  On  the  road  from 
Alburtis  to  Millcrstown,  and  about  three-quarters  of  a mile 
from  the  former  station.  This  ore  occurs  in  seams  or  bands  in 
the  white  clay,  which  has  a dip  of  27°  H 23°  W.  A great 
deal  of  the  ore  is  in  lumps,  especially  at  the  present  bottom  of 
the  mine,  which  is  20  feet.  The  seams  of  ore  are  not  regular, 
but  suddenly  stop  to  make  a bend,  and  then  continue  or  stop  al- 
together; and  another  seam  will  be  found  a foot  or  two  lower 
down,  and  so  on.  There  is  a great  deal  of  lump  ore,  and  the 
mine  is  a rich  one.  The  ore  commences  about  5 feet  froiii  the 
surface.  But  little  flint  or  boulders  of  Potsdam  sandstone 
could  be  observed  in. this  mine.  The  present  daily  capacity  of 
the  mine  is  20  tons ; 20  men  are  employed. 

Jonas  Kreischmann's  Bline,  Ho.  33,  leased  by  Allentown  Pol- 
ling Mill  Company.  This  mine  is  only  separated  by  a fence 
from  the  preceding  one,  and  must  be  identical  in  its  charac- 
teristics. The  mine  was  not  worked  during  the  past  season. 

This  ore,  when  analyzed  by  Mr.  M'Creath,  gave  the  follow- 
ing results : — 

Iron, 32.70 

Manganese, 0.374 


GEOLOGY  OF  THE  DISTRICT. 


D.  19 


Sulpliiir, 0.030 

Phospliorus, 0.179 

Insoluble  residue, 39.05 

This  ore  is  very  siliceous. 

Jonas  Kreischmann^ s Mine^  l^o.  34,  leased  by  Coleraine  Iron 
Company.  This  mine  is  about  6 to  8 feet  deep.  The  ore  is  ap- 
parently disintegrated  in  place  or  surface  ore.  It  occurs  in  thin 
streaks  in  a yellow  clay  soil  with  considerable  flint.  When  visi- 
ted the  mine  did  not  look  very  favorably.  A shaft  had  been 
sunk  about  18  feet,  and  no  ore  was  apparent  on  the  dump.  The 
foreman  told  me  that  limestone  was  struck  at  a depth  of  15  to 
20  feet.  In  another  part  of  the  mine  a shaft  was  down  30  feet 
and  there  was  but  little  ore  in  the  clay  on  the  dump.  In  the 
northern  portion  of  the  mine  limestone  crops  out,  having  appar- 
rently  a south-east  dip.  The  present  capacity  of  the  mine  is  15 
tons  daily  ; 18  men  and  3 boys  are  employed. 

Mr.  M’Crcath  analj^zed  a specimen  of  the  ore  from  this  mine, 
and  found — 

Iron, 46.60 

Manganese, 0.454 


Sulphur, 0.027 

Phosphorus, 0.597 

Insoluble  residue, 16.23 

Gaumer^s  Mine^  Ko.  77,  leased  by  Temple  Iron  Company.  Kot 
worked  when  visited  ; could  not  see  anything,  or  obtain  any  in- 
formation about  it.  The  mine  is  10  to  15  feet  deep. 

Kerschners  3Tinc^  No.  75,  leased  by  Coleraine  Iron  Company. 
The  mine  is  about  30  feet  deep.  The  ore  forms  strings  and 
scams  in  clay,  and  Alls  up  irregular  cavities  in  it.  The  clay 
seems  to  have  a dip  of  10°  S.  25°  E.  The  mine  presents  a good 
appearance ; there  being  but  little  flint  or  quartzite  boulders 
mingled  with  the  clay  or  ore.  The  present  daily  yield  of  the 
mine  is  10  tons;  10  men  and  boys  are  employed. 


Kerschner’s  31tne^  No.  76,  leased  by  Temple  Iron  Company. 
The  ore  occurs  in  thin  streaks  in  the  clay,  and  the  mine  seems 
to  be  a good  one.  There  is  a good  deal  of  yellow  clay  on  the 
top,  containing  no  ore,  from  which  bricks  are  made.  The  yield 
of  the  mine  is  from  10  to  15  tons  daily;  18  men  and  boys  are 
employed. 


20  D.  F.  PRIME,  JR.,  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS,  1874. 

Henry  Shankieeiler  s Mine^  !N’o.  91,  leased  by  John  Sliaefer. 
There  are  two  openings  at  this  mine;  neither  of  which  has 
been  worked  since  the  panic.  The  sides  were  so  washed  that 
it  was  impossible  to  see  anything.  The  ore  apparently  occurs 
associated  with  the  ordinary  yellow  clay  resulting  from  the  de- 
composition of  limestone. 

Crane  Iron  Company's  Mine^  Ho.  72,  at  the  junction  of  the 
road  from  ISTew  Texas  to  Emaus,  and  Millerstown  to  Allentown. 
The  most  western  of  the  three  openings  belonging  to  this  com- 
pany was  not  worked,  and  nothing  could  be  observed. 

The  middle  mine  at  the  north  corner  of  the  junction  of  the 
two  roads  was  being  worked.  It  has  been  excavated  to  a depth 
of  40  feet,  and  the  regular  bed  of  ore  is  still  at  the  bottom; 
there  being  more  an  appearance  of  disintegrated  or  drift  ore 
near  the  surface.  The  ore  occurs,  as  usual  on  this  range,  with 
clay.  But  little  pot  or  bomb-shell  ore  was  observed.  About  20 
tons  of  washed  ore  are  obtained  here  daily ; 14  men  and  boys 
are  employed. 

The  third  mine  belonging  to  the  Crane  Company  lies  at  the 
eastern  corner  of  the  cross-roads,  and  was  abandoned;  nothing* 
could  be  seen  there. 

AUento2on  Iron  Company's  Mine.,  Ho.  73,  at  the  western  junc- 
tion of  the  cross-roads.  This  mine  had  been  formerly  worked 
to  an  inconsiderable  depth  on  the  surface  for  ore,  and  abandoned 
as  being  exhausted.  The  Allentown  Iron  Company  then  took 
hold  of  it  and  sunk  shafts  on  to  the  ore  in  place.  The  ore,  like 
that  in  the  Crane  just  mentioned,  presents  a fine  appearance, 
forming  a regular  bed  on  the  clay.  The  ore  at  these  cross-roads 
lies  deep.  The  trial-shafts  were  sunk  25  feet  at  this  mine  be- 
fore striking  ore  in  place.  The  daily  ^ueld  of  the  mine  is  15  to 
18  tons  ; 14  men  and  boys  are  employed. 

Wiand's  Mine.,  Ho.  74,  leased  by  the  Temple  Iron  Company. 
This  lies  a little  to  the  East  of  the  last  mine.  It  also  makes  a 
fine  show,  and  has  been  worked  very  extensively,  being  now 
nearly  exhausted  unless  fresh  ore  should  be  struck  at  a greater 
depth,  which  there  is  no  reason  to  expect.  The  mine  is  about 
30  to  40  feet  deep.  In  some  places  limestone  is  struck  at  a 
depth  of  25  feet,  while  in  other  parts  of  the  mine  shafts  have 
been  sunk  to  a depth  of  50  feet  before  meeting  it.  The  ore  is 


GEOLOGY  OF  THE  DISTRICT. 


D.  21 


partly  wash  ore  near  the  surface ; deeper,  it  forms  seams  in  the 
clay ; occasionally  pot  ore  occurs.  In  some  places  the  mine  is 
being  worked  in  7 to  9 feet  of  solid  ore.  The  daily  average 
yield  of  the  mine  is  20  tons  ; 12  men  are  employed.  A plane 
is  used  for  hoisting  the  ore.  Mr.  M’Creath  analyzed  a specimen 


of  the  ore  and  found  : — 

Iron, 45.30 

Manganese, 0.749 

Sulphur, 0.032 

Phosphorus,  ------  0.137 

Insoluble  residue, 21.06 


Beuhen  Laros'  Mine^  ISTo.  92,  leased  by  Hartzell  and  Keck. 
When  visited  it  was  only  8 feet  deep,  having  been  but  recently 
opened.  On  the  dump  all  the  ore  seems  light,  and  looks  very 
slaty.  In  the  bottom  of  the  present  openings  about  6 inches  of 
a yellow  (damourite  ?)  clay  can  be  seen,  in  which  most  of  the 
ore  apparently  occurs.  The  mine  is  not  yet  sufficiently  opened 
to  determine  its  character. 

P.  Marches  Mine^  Ko.  93,  leased  by  Lehigh  Iron  Company. 
This  mine  has  not  been  worked  during  the  past  season.  It  con- 
sists only  of  stripping,  the  mine  not  being  worked  to  a greater 
depth  than  5 feet.  It  is  very  probable  the  preceding  mine  is  of 
the  same  character.  Mr.  M’Creath  analyzed  a specimen  of 
the  ore  and  found : — 

Iron,  - - - - ' - - - 46.500 

Manganese, 0.590 


Sulphur, 0.022 

Phosphorus, 0.128 

Insoluble  residue, 16.300 

The  mines  at  Ilensingcrville  are  all  grouped  together,  and 
can  indeed  be  regarded  as  one.  great  pit,  only  separated  by  walls 
at  different  points.  Trial  pits  have  been  sunk  on  the  Maple 
Grove  Mill  property,  and  good  ore  found.  An  analysis  by  Mr. 
M’Creath  gave — 

Iron, 33.30 


Manganese,  - 
Sulphur, 
Phosphorus,  - 
Insoluble  residue. 


0.612 

0.007 

.170 

34.25 


22  D. 


F.  PRIME,  JR.,  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS,  1874. 


The  first  mine  met  with,  an  abandoned  one,  belonging  to 
Peter  Kline,  Ko.  45  ; is  on  the  South  side  of  and  close  to  the  road 
leading  West  from  Hensingerville.  At  this  place  damourite  slate 
is  noticed,  dipping  35°  S.  The  mine  is  close  to  the  gneiss,  and 
was  worked  to  a depth  of  about  25  feet.  A little  ore  can  be 
seen  upon  the  walls  of  the  pit,  hut  it  is  impossible,  in  its  present 
condition,  to  say  whether  it  is  exhausted  or  not. 

J.  Barber  and  Company's  Mine^^o.  49.  This  has  been 'worked 
for  some  time.  The  ore  occurs  underneath  a blue  sandy  lime* 
stone  and  over  white  clay.  When  seen,  the  appearance  of  the 
pit,  where  worked,  looked  badlj^  there  being  little  or  no  ore  in 
sight.  It  was  proposed  to  work  the  more  southern  portion  oi 
the  excavation,  where  the  indications  are  more  promising. 
Work  had  been  stopped  on  the  mine  between  two  visits  paid 
to  it.  Ten  men  were  employed  when  the  mine  was  being 
worked  ; there  is  an  inclined  plane  for  hoisting  the  ore.  A 
curious  fact  was  observed  here  by  Mr.  Barber.  A short  time 
before  stopping  the  work  a number  of  white  rounded  balls,  of 
considerable  weight  and  various  sizes,  were  found  underneath 
the  brown  hematite  ore,  and  above  the  clay.  On  analysis  these 
have  proved  to  be  siderite  or  carbonate  of  iron  of  a very  good 
quality  and  the  brown  hematite  has  in  all  probability  been 
formed  by  the  oxidation  of  the  siderite.  Unfortunately  but  a 
small  quantity  of  the  latter  has  been  found,  as  it  would  be  a 
capital  ore  for  the  furnaces  of  the  Valley.  Mr.  M’Creath 
analyzed  the  brown  hematite  and  found  it  to  contain 


Iron, 

Manganese,  - 
Sulphur, 
Phosphorus, 
Insoluble  residue. 


47.000 

0.518 

0.030 

0.111 

16.050 


He  also  analyzed  the  siderite  and  obtained: 


45.064 

1.553 

0.457 

1.150 

1.643 

0.644 

1.495 


Oxide  of  manganese. 
Alumina, 

Lime, 

Magnesia, 


GEOLOGY  OF  THE  DISTRICT. 


D.  23 


Carbonic  acid, 29.330 

riiosphoric  acid, 0.142 

Sulphuric  acid,  -----  0.061 

Water,  -------  0.420 

Insoluble  residue, 17.575 


99.534 

Ilensingtr  Mines^  ISTo.  50  and  51,  leased  by  Allentown  Iron 
Company  and  Bethlehem  Iron  Company.  These  two  mines  are 
really  one,  being  merely  separated  by  a thin  wall  of  clay.  The 
Bethlehem  Company  were  not  working  their  pit.  The  ore,  as 
in  all  the  Ilensingerville  mines,  occurs  near  the  top  in  ^-ellow 
clay ; but  this  soon  changes  either  to  damourite  slate,  or  to  the 
plastic  clay  resulting  from  its  decomposition.  The  ore  occurs 
in  seams  and  streaks  distributed  through  the  clay  or  slate.  Fre- 
quently these  streaks,  together  with  the  clay,  change  their  course 
abruptly  as  if  from  a sliding  of  the  clay  on  itself.  The  clay 
and  ore  dip  at  this  mine  28°  S.  S.  E.  The  ore  commences  about 
10  feet  from  the  surface.  The  mine  is  about  25  feet  deep.  At 
the  pit  leased  by  the  Allentown  Rolling  Mill  Company  there  is 
but  a single  shaft  used  for  washing  the  ore. 

Thomas  Iron  Company's  Mine^  Ro.  52.  This  lies  alongside  of 
the  pit  just  mentioned  as  leased  by  the  Bethlehem  Iron  Com- 
pany. The  same  remark  applies  to  this  as  to  the  previous  ones 
that  they  make  a very  fine  show  of  ore,  the  seams  appearing  to 
be  regular  and  in  great  numbers.  Tlie  quantity  of  ore  is  very 
large  and  a shaft  sunk  75  feet  from  the  surface  in  the  bottom 
of  this  excavation  still  showed  ore.  This  mine  has  a plane  for 
the  extraction  of  the  ore. 

Trial  pits  have  been  sunk  in  Shankweiller’s  lot,  and  a single 
specimen  was  found  by  Mr.  M’Creath  to  contain — 


Iron, 

Manganese, 
Sulphur, 
Phosphorous, 
Insoluble  residue. 


47.90 

0.266 

0.003 

0.165 

11.89 


Hensinger  and  Saul's  Mine^  Ho.  54,  leased  by  Allentown  Iron 
Company.  This  mine  has  two  openings,  but  they  have  not  been 
so  extensively  developed  as  those  just  mentioned.  The  position 


24  D. 


F.  PRIME,  JR.,  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS,  1874. 


of  the  ore  is  the  same  as  that  already  described,  and  it  appears 
to  be  of  as  good  quality. 

An  analyses  by  Mr.  M’Creath  gave — 

Iron,  ^ - - - - - - 25.00 

Sulphur,  ......  0.008 

Phosphorus, 0.189 

Manganese, 0.396 

Insoluble  residue,  ....  48.99 

Hot  satisfied  with  this  new  samples  were  taken  and  found  to 
contain — 


Iron,  - 
Sulphur, 

- 44.600 

trace. 

Phosphorus,  - 

- 

0.151 

Manganese,  - 

- 

0.576 

Insoluble  residue,  - 

- 

. 20.340 

Mickley^s  Mine^  Ho.  55,  leased  by  the  Thomas  Iron  Company. 
This  mine  is  similar  to  those  just  described. 

Hensinger  Heirs  Farm,  Trial  shafts  were  sunk  on  this  farm 
during  the  past  season,  and  an  abundance  of  pot  ore  was  found. 
Some  of  the  ore  was  sent  to  Mr.  M’Creath  for  analyses,  and  he 
found — 

Iron, 44.500 

Manganese, 9.280 


Sulphur,  - - ...  0.019 

Phosphorus,  - - . . . 0.316 

Insoluble  residue, 6.280 

Ho  mines  visited  during  the  past  season  made  a better  ap- 
pearance than  these  around  Ilensingerville.  The  ore  occurs 
both  as  pot  and  wash  ore,  and  forms  very  regular  streaks  in  and 
on  top  of  the  slates,  besides  occurring  for  a very  great  depth. 
All  these  facts  show  the  great  richness  of  the  mines. 

Kiefer  3Iine,,  Ho.  58,  abandoned.  ' This  mine  was  formerly 
worked  by  Mr.  James  Lanigan,  but  when  visited  it  was  impos- 
sible to  see  anything,  as  the  pit  had  been  abandoned  for  some 
time. 

DesKs  Mine,,  Ho.  57,  abandoned.  This  opening  has  been 
abandoned  for  some  time,  as  all  the  ore  has  been  extracted. 
There  are  two  excavations  at  this  point. 

This  range  of  mines  continues  all  along  the  northern  base  ol 


GEOLOGY  OF  TUE  DISTRICT. 


D.  25 


tLe  ‘>outli  Mountain  to  the  Delaware  Diver.  In  Northampton 
county  a number  of  mines  arc  worked  in  Williams  township 
by  the  Glcndon  Iron  Company,  and  private  parties.  As  a sam- 
ple of  the  ore,  the  following  analyses  of  samples  from  Sampson 
and  Sitgrcaves’  ^line  near  South  Easton,  are  subjoined ; they 
were  made  by  Kenneth  Dobertson,  Esq.,  Superintendent  of  the 


Keystone  Iron  Company. 

I is  from  the  Upper  Shaft. 

II  is  bomb-shell  ore. 

I. 

Water,  - - 12.37 

Silica,  - - 7.58 

Alumina,  - - 5.82 

Phosphoric  Acid,  0.58=0.25  p. 
Ferric  oxide,  - 73.14=51.2  p. 
Oxide  of  manganese  0.44 
Lime,  - - 0.21 

Magnesia,  - - 0.14 

100.28 


II. 

- 13.71 

- 3.57 

- 4.50 

j.Phos.,  0.56=  0.24p.c.Phos. 
:.  Iron,  71.47=50.03  p.  c.Iron. 

- 6.41 

- 0.00 
- 0.00 


100.22 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Second  Ilange  of  Mines. 

Ludwig^s  New  Mine.,  No.  40.  This  mine  presents  a favorable 
appearance,  and  pipe  ore  was  found  here.  In  one  place  a vein  of 
black  oxide  of  manganese  was  observed  6 to  8 inches  thick. 
Limestone  occurs  above  the  ore,  but  none  was  seen  below  it.  By 
the  kindness  of  S.  M.  Felton,  Esq.,  President  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Steel  Works,  the  following  analysis  is  published,  made 
by  Mr.  M’Creath  in  1874 ; the  sample  is  an  average  of  six 
cars : — 

Water  of  hydration,  - 6.95 

Combined  water,  - 10.75 

Silica,  - - - 9.93 

Ferric  oxide,  - - 68.59=48.013  p.  c.  Iron. 

Alumina,  - - - 2.01 

Manganic  oxide,  a trace. 


26  D. 


F.  PRIME,  JR.,  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS,  1874. 


Lime,  - - - 

Magnesia,  - 
Phosphoric  acid,  - 
Sulphuric  acid,  - 


0.270 

1.48 


0.34=0.149  p.  c.  phosphorus. 
0.06=0.025  p.  c.  sulphur. 


100.38 


JBuiz’s  311716,1^0. 39.  At  this  mine  the  ore  occurs  in  yellow  clay, 
resulting  from  the  decomposition  of  limestone.  When  examined 
the  mine  did  not  present  a very  favorable  appearance,  there 
being  but  little  ore  apparently  distributed  through  the  clay. 

Ludwig's  Old  3Iine.,  i7o.  38.  In  this  the  limestone  crops  out  to 
the  surface,  and  a vein  of  ore  occurs  above  the  limestone  in 
drift  clay.  The  ore  occurs  irregularly  distributed  in  the  lime- 
stone, having  the  appearance  of  pockets  rather  than  of  regular 
beds.  The  limestone  is  horizontal,  and  presents  the  curious  ap- 
pearance of  having  thin  layers  which  have  decomposed  to  an 
unctuous  gray  clay.  Mr.  M’Creath  analyzed  the  ore,  and  ob- 
tained— 


51.25 

0.381 

0.016 

0.100 

11.01 


Iron,  - 
Manganese,  - 
Sulphur, 
Phosphorus, 
Insoluble  residue, 


Jayger's  3Iine,  Ho.  37.  Hot  worked.  This  mine  is  only  strip- 
ping, and  at  a depth  ot  10  feet  limestone  is  struck,  which  is 
horizontal.  The  limestone  is  blue,  saccharoidal  and  water- worn. 

Harry  Kaiser's  3Iine.,  Ho.  36,  leased  by  the  Bethlehem  Iron 
Co.  Of  the  two  openings  worked,  no  ore  was  in  sight  in  the 
western  one,  except  a very  little  drift  ore  in  the  top.  In  the 
east  opening  one  vein,  about  8 inches  thick,  was  visible  in 
gravel  forming  the  surface  wash.  The  mine  when  visited  did 
not  present  a promising  appearance,  but  it  may  improve  as  it 
deepens. 

Blank's  3Iine,  Ho.  30,  leased  by  Ludwig,  Ilertzog  & Co. 
Drift  ore  occurs  immediately  under  the  sod,  then  a bank  of 
clay  containing  no  ore,  and  underneath  this  ore  and  yellow  clay 
the  former  in  thin  seams.  The  seams  of  ore  occur  in  yellow 
clay,  having  a general  southerly  pitch ; this  is,  however,  very 
irregular,  and  is  sometimes,  locally,  to  the  west.  The  mine,  at 
its  deepest  part,  is  down  32  feet.  It  has  a daily  capacity  of  20 


GEOLOGY  yjF  THE  DISTRICT. 


D.  27 


tons  of  ore ; 1 9 men  and  boys  are  employed.  An  analysis  ot 
this  ore  by  Mr.  M’Creath,  gave  the  following  result : 

Sulphur, 0.049 

Phosphorus, 0.109 

Manganese, 4.575 

Iron, 43.00 

Insoluble  residue,  ....  19.06 

’ About  half  a mile  north-east  of  this  is  a mine  on  Ruth’s  or 
Meitzler’s  Farm,  whieh  has  been  so  long  abandoned  that  noth- 
ing whatever  can  be  seen. 

Smoyer's  Mine^  ITo.  28,  is  close  to  the  Little  Lehigh  Creek,  near 
the  point  where  it  is  crossed  by  the  Catasauqua  and  Fogelsville 
Railroad.  The  ore  occurs  in  yellow  clay,  as  if  the  rock  were 
disintegrated  in  place ; no  seams  or  streaks  of  ore  could  be  per- 
ceived. The  mine  is  about  18  feet  deep.  There  being  no  one 
there,  no  special  information  could  be  obtained  respecting  it. 

Benjamin  Smoyer^s  Mine^  Ho.  31,  leased  by  Shinier  and  Hart- 
zell,  is  10  feet  deep ; the  ore  occurs  in  seams  in  yellow  clay, 
and  has  a general  dip  of  10°  H.  24°  E.  Limestone  was  struck 
in  the  well  at  a depth  of  60  feet.  The  daily  yield  of  the  mine 
is  15  to  18  tons  of  ore,  15  men  and  boys  being  employed.  Just 
across  the  Millerstown-Trexlertown  road  from  the  preceding  is 
another  mine,  which  was  not  worked  when  visited. 

Smoyer^s  Mine^  Ho.  80,  leased  by  Millerstown  Iron  Company, 
was  being  opened  for  the  first  day’s  work  when  visited,  so  that 
nothing  could  be  seen.  Several  trial-pits  had  been  sunk,  and  it 
was  stated  that  the  indications  were  favorable. 

Smoyer's  Mine,  Ho.  79,  abandoned.  This  has  been  worked  out. 
It  contains  two  peaks  of  white  clay ; one  of  which  comes  al- 
most to  the  surface  of  the  ground.  Alongside  of  these  peaks 
or  needles  are  great  cavities,  about  thirty  feet  deep,  which  ex- 
tend and  contained  the  ore.  The  bottom  of  the  mine  seems  to 
consist  of  the  same  white  clay. 

Smoyer’s  Mine,  Ho.  78,  leased  by  Bushong  & Co.,  which  is 
close  to  the  last,  is  about  eight  feet  deep.  In  some  parts  of 
the  mine  limestone  is  struck  at  a depth  of  five  to  six  feet,  while 
in  other  parts  it  was  twenty  to  twenty- five  feet  below  the  sur- 
face. The  mine  is  scarcely  at  a sufficient  depth  to  determine 
whether  the  white  clay  occurs  under  the  ore.  To  show  the 


28  D.  F.  PRIME,  JR.,  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS,  1874. 

cavernous  nature  of  the  limestone  it  is  only  necessary  to  state 
that  while  it  is  struck,  as  just  stated,  in  parts  of  the  mine  at  a 
depth  of  five  feet,  the  well,  just  alongside,  was  sunk  forty  feet 
before  touching  it. 

J.  Smoyer's  Mine^  I7o.  27  and  83,  leased  by  James  Weiler,  was 
not  being  worked  when  visited. 

Benjamin  P.  Smoyer's  Mine^  'No.  81,  is  only  stripping,  be- 
ing but  ten  feet  deep.  Where  left  standing  white  clay  is  visible. 
It  was  not  being  worked  when  visited. 

Judith  Smoyer’s  Mine.,  Ho.  82,  leased  by  B.  P.  Smoyer,  had 
not  been  worked  for  some  time  when  visited,  and  was  full 
of  water  in  the  bottom  so  as  to  be  inaccessible. 

T.  Smoyer^ s Mine^  Ho.  89.  There  are  here  two  small  openings 
not  worked  during  the  past  season.  They  are  close  to  the 
Little  Lehigh. 

K.  Smoyer^s  Mine^  Ho.  90,  abandoned.  Hothing  could  be 
seen  here ; hut  from  what  could  he  learned  it  did  not  pay  to  ex- 
tract the  ore. 

A.  Smoyer’s  Mine,  Ho.  85,  leased  by  Allentown  Iron  Co.  The 
ore  occurs  in  seams  in  clay  with  a little  flint.  As  almost  the 
whole  excavation  was  filled  with  water  it  was  impossible  to  see 
much.  The  dip  of  the  clay  taken  at  one  point  was  4°  S.  25°  E. 
When  working,  the  daily  production  is  ten  tons  of  ore ; twelve 
men  and  boys  are  employed. 

P.  Romig's  Mine,  Ho.  70,  leased  by  the  Crane  Iron  Co.  At  the 
junction  of  the  road  from  Hew  Texas  to  Emaus  and  Philadel- 
phia to  Mauch  Chunk.  When  visited  was  only  being  worked 
by  two  boys.  From  what  could  be  seen  the  ore  was  apparently 
in  yellow  clay.  The  appearance  of  the  mine  indicates  disinte- 
gration in  place ; no  seams  or  streaks  of  ore  could  be  seen,  it 
being  irregularly  distributed  in  small  fragments  throughout  the 
mass. 

P.  Romig's  Mine,  Ho.  69,  leased  by  Israel  Kolb.  In  the  field 
east  of  the  previous  mine  arc  three  small  openings,  which  were 
not  worked  when  visited,  and  where  nothing  could  be  seen. 

In  the  field  north  of  these  and  the  road  to  Emaus  are  six 
small  and  one  large  opening,  also  leased  by  I.  Kolb,  which  were 
standing  idle  and  nothing  could  he  seen. 

Reuben  Romig’s  Mine,  Ho.  64,  leased  by  Allentown  Iron  Co. 


GEOLOGY  OF  THE  DISTRICT. 


D.  29 


This  lies  on  the  Mauch  Chunk  road  iTorth  of  the  iast  men- 
tioned openings,  and  to  the  West  of  the  road.  The  ore  occurs 
in  small  pieces  of  wash  ore,  and  as  pot  ore  in  yellow  and  drab 
clay,  probably  due  to  the  decomposition  of  limestone  in  place. 
The  mine  at  its  deepest  point  is  36  feet  deep,  and  no  rock  has 
been  struck  anywhere.  The  clay  dips  26°  S.  12°  E.,  coinciding 
with  the  limestone  dip  South  of  it.  The  daily  capacity  of  the 
mine  is  about  18  tons ; 16  men  and  boys  employed.  Mr.  M’- 
Ci'cath’s  analysis  shows: — • 


Iron,  - 

- 

- 

- 

- 51.950 

Manganese,  - 

- 

- 

- 

0.360 

Sulphur, 

- 

- 

- 

trace. 

Phosphorus, 

- 

- 

- 

0.106 

Insoluble  residue, 

- 

- 

- 

- 11.430 

Werner  and  Reinhart's  Mine^  Ko.  66,  leased  by  Allentown  Iron 
Co.  This  mine  is  75  feet  deep,  and  the  ore  occurs  in  seams 
and  streaks  in  yellow  clay.  The  clay  dips  21°  E”.  85°  E.,  proba- 
bly due  to  a local  roll  of  the  beds.  About  15  to  18  tons  of  ore 
arc  obtained  daily ; 15  men  and  boys  are  employed.  Mr.  M"- 
Creath  analyzed  the  ore  and  found : — - 


Iron, 

Manganese, 
Sulphur,  - 
Phosphorus,  - 
Insoluble  residue. 


48.000—48.500 
0.173—  0.194 
0.032 — trace. 
0.120—  0.123 
15.950—16.560 


Milton  Lauer's  Mine,,  No.  65,  leased  by  Carbon  Iron  Co.  This 
IS  really  but  a continuation  of  the  previous  mine,  being  sepa- 
rated by  a thin  wall  of  clay.  It  was  not  worked  when  visited. 
In  both  of  these  mines  about  35  feet  of  stripping  have  to  be 
removed  before  reaching  ore.  An  analysis  of  this  ore  by  Mr. 


M’Creath  gave  the  following  result : — 

Iron,  38.00 

Sulphur, 0.02 

Phosphorus, 0.108 

Manganese,  .....  1.484 

Insoluble  residue,  ....  30.97 


Schmidt  and  Ritter's  3Iine,  No.  67.  Not  being  worked  when 
visited,  and  there  was  very  little  to  be  seen.  The  character  of 
the  mine  is  the  same  as  those  above. 


30  1) 


F.  PRIME,  JR.,  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS,  1874. 


CHAPTER  YIL 
Third  Range  of  Mines, 

Abandoned  Mine^  near  Weilersville.  This  mine  was  formerly 
leased  by  the  Bethlehem  Iron  Co.  It  has  been  abandoned  for 
several  years,  and  when  visited  nothing  could  be  seen. 

James  Weller's  Mine^  Ho.  29,  abandoned,  lies  south  of  the 
former  on  the  Alburtis-Trexlertown  road.  It  has  also  been 
abandoned  for  some  time. 

Crane  and  Thomas  Iron  Co.’s  Mine.,  Ho.  28.  This  is  close  to 
the  Trexlertown  Church  and  is  bisected  by  the  Catasauqua  and 
Fogelsville  Railroad.  Hot  worked  at  present,  and  nothing 
could  be  seen  there  to  determine  the  character  of  the  deposit. 

Frank  S.  Lichtemcallner’ s Mine.,  Ho.  25.  Ore  very  gravelly  and 
mixed  with  much  flint.  The  appearance  of  the  mine  is  entirely 
that  of  a surface  wash  of  ore  and  gravel  which  has  been  caught 
in  a depression  of  the  limestone.  The  limestone  is  struck  at  a 
depth  of  15  to  30  feet,  the  latter  depth  probably  in  a sink-hole. 
The  limestone  crops  out  to  the  surface  very  rapidly  to  the  north 
of  the  mine,  but  never  above  the  soil  so  as  to  obtain  the  dip. 
Naturally  it  is  impossible  to  obtain  any  dip  of  the  ore  or  gravel. 
The  daily  capacity  of  the  mine  is  12  tons ; 14  men  and  boys  are 
employed.  Mr.  M’Creath  analyzed  the  ore  with  the  following 
result : — 


Iron,  - 

- 

- 

- 48.250 

Manganese, 

- 

- 

0.432 

Sulphur, 

- 

- 

0.045 

Phosphorus, 

- 

• 

0.025 

Insoluble  residue. 

- 

- 

- 18.450 

Smoyer’s  Mine.,  Ho.  26,  leased  by  Thomas  Iron  Co.  Is  a little 
farther  from  the  road  than  the  last  and  about  300  yards  from 
that  mine.  The  appearance  of  the  mine  as  to  its  formation  is 
identical  with  that  of  Lichtenwalluer’s.  It  is  said  that  lime- 
stone is  struck  at  a depth  of  about  13  feet,  but  no  exposure  was 


GEOLOGY  OF  THE  DISTRICT. 


D.  31 


seen.  The  daily  capacity  of  the  mine  is  10  tons  ; 13  men  and 
boys  arc  employed. 

Gemart's  Mine^  N^o.  24,  leased  by  Crane  Iron  Co.  This  mine  is 
but  12  feet  deep,  and  no  ore  has  been  found  below  this  although 
shafts  have  been  sunk  for  that  purpose.  Below  the  ore  sand  is 
found.  The  appearance  here  is  as  if  the  ore  was  a mere  surface 
wash  caught  in  a depression  of  the  surface.  The  well  was  sunk 
to  a depth  of  64  feet  without  striking  rock  ; it  passed  the  whole 
way  through  sand  and  gravel.  The  number  of  men  and  boys 
employed  is  16.  At  one  part  of  the  mine  a streak  of  black 
oxide  of  manganese  was  observed  in  the  top  clay. 

James  Scholl’s  Mine^  ISTo.  94.  This  mine,  but  a hundred  feet 
from  the  preceding  one,  is  identical  with  it  in  character.  The 
mine  is  14  feet  deep.  The  daily  yield  of  the  mine  is  12  to  15 
tons  of  ore ; 12  men  and  boys  are  employed. 

Jonas  Bastmn’s  Mine^  Ho.  62,  abandoned.  Shafts  have  been 
sunk  quite  a depth  in  the  bottom  of  the  mine ; but  the  stuff  at 
the  mouth  of  the  shafts  has  been  nearly  all  washed  away.  The 
mine  is  from  10  to  15  feet  deep  ; near  the  surface  it  is  apparently 
ore  disintegrated  with  the  rock  in  place  ; near  the  bottom  of  the 
mine  the  ore  appears  in  one  or  two  places  to  form  beds  in  the 
clay. 

Elwyn  Bastian’s  Mine^  Ho.  63,  leased  by  the  Lehigh  Iron  Co. 
The  bottom  of  the  mine  was  full  of  water,  and  work  had  been 
recently  stopped  on  the  mine  when  it  was  visited.  The  mine  is 
22  feet  deep  to  water.  It  was  impossible  to  make  a careful  erx- 
amination  on  account  of  the  water.  Ore  occurs  in  clay,  the 
latter  varies  from  level  to  a dip  of  5°  S.  18°  W. 

An  analysis  of  this  ore  by  Mr.  M’Creath  gave  the  following 


result : — 

Iron, 42.30 

Manganese, 0.648 

Sulphur, 0.026 

Phosphorus, 0.100 

Insoluble  residue,  ....  24.12 


This  ore  is  very  silicious. 

Francis  Guth’s  3Iine,  Ho.  61 , leased  by  Carbon  Iron  Co.  There 
are  three  excavations  at  this  mine.  It  had  not  been  worked 


32  D. 


F.  PRIME,  JR.,  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS,  1874. 


for  some  little  time  when  visited  and  nothing  could  he  seen. 
Mr.  M’Creath  analyzed  the  ore  and  found 

Iron, 48.200 

Manganese, 0.418 

Sulphur, 0.005 

Phosphorus, 0.158 

Insoluble  residue,  ....  14.810 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Fourth  Range  of  Mbics, 

Francis  Breinig^s  Mine^  ISTo.  H.  The  large  pit  is  full  of  water; 
it  has  not  been  worked  since  1860,  and  is  said  to  be  exhausted. 
To  the  right  is  a smaller  opening,  which  is  being  worked  at 
present.  The  ore  occurs  in  seams  and  streaks  in  damourite 
slate,  and  the  white  and  yellow  clays  formed  by  its  decomposi- 
tion. The  clay  and  ore  pitch  18°  to  25°  S.  80°  E.  The  por- 
tion of  the  mine  worked  is  50  feet  deep,  and  does  not  exhibit 
any  sign  of  the  ore  being  exhausted.  There  is  a plane  for 
hoisting  the  ore.  The  daily  capacity  of  the  mine  is  20  tons 


of  ore ; 20  men  and  boys  are  employed, 
the  ore,  and  found — 

Mr.  M’Creath  analy'^.ed 

Iron, 

- 48.100 

Manganese,  - - . - 

0.360 

Sulphur,  .... 

0.045 

Phosphorus, ...  - 

0.164 

Insoluble  residue, - 

- 13.440 

In  the  northern  portion  of  the  field 

in  which  the  mine  is 

situated  a blue  ochre  is  obtained,  which 

is  used  as  a paint.  It 

is  probable  that  this  ochre  is  decomposed  Utica 
analysis  by  Dr.  Genth  gave  the  following  result : — 
Loss  by  ignition  in  closed  crucible,  (water)  - 
Do.  do.  open  crucible,  (graphite,) 
Quartz,  . . . . - 

Combined  silica,  . - - - 

Alumina  with  traces  of  ferric  oxide, 
Magnesia,  ..... 

Alkalies,  ct.  cet.,  (not  determined,) 


Shale,  \u 

4.S4 

4.26 
44.50 
26.25 
17.95 

0.94 

1.26 


100  00 


GEOLOGY  OF  THE  DISTRICT. 


I).  33 


To  the  south  of  the  large  ahandoned  opening  tliorc  arc  two 
emaller  ones,  also  full  of  water.  This  mine  lies  miles  north- 
west of  Breinigsvillc.  The  clay  from  the  mud-dam  is  dried 
and  sold  as  yellow  ochre  for  the  preparation  of  paint.  Mr.  M’- 
Creath’s  analysis  shows  it  to  contain — 


Silica,  - 

- 

- 

- 

60.53 

Alumina, 

- 

- 

17.40 

Ferric  oxide. 

- 

- 

- 

9.29 

Lime,  - 

- 

- 

- 

0.08 

Magnesia,  - 

- 

- 

- 

1.92 

Water, 

- 

- 

- 

5.51 

Alkalies  (by  loss,) 

- 

- 

- 

5.27 

100.00 

Oliver  Moser^s  Mine^  Ko.  20,  leased  by  the  IN’orthampton  Iron 
Co.  This  mine  has  only  recently  been  opened  to  a depth  of 
5 or  6 feet.  The  ore  thus  far  obtained  is  all  pipe  ore.  Mr.  M’- 
Creath’s  analysis  shows — 

Iron, 57.500 

Manganese, 0.749 

Sulphur, - trace. 

Phosphorus, 0.165 

Insoluble  residue,  ....  3.470 

Thomas  Breinig's  Mine^l^o.  19,  leased  by  the  hTorthampton  Iron 
Co.  This  is  one  of  the  oldest  mines  in  the  county,  having 
been  worked  more  than  sixty  years.  This  is  the  mine  described 
in  Rogers’  Final  Report  of  Pennsylvania,  Vol.  I,  p.  265,  under 
the  name  of  the  “ Copperas  mine.”  The  old  portion  of  the  mine 
is  full  of  water,  and  is  said  to  be  60  feet  deep.  The  ore  occurs 
above  damourite  slate,  and  associated  with  iron  pyrites.  It  is 
improbable  that  the  sulphurctof  iron  owes  its  origin  to  a small 
shallow  bed  of  Utica  shale^  which  has  undergone  disintegration. 
It  was  impossible  to  ascertain  whether  the  blue  ochre  occurred 
here  or  not.  The  most  probable  explanation  of  the  formation 
of  the  iron  pyrites,  which  occurs  as  pipe-shaped  stalactites  is, 
that  sulphate  of  iron  in  solution,  coming  in  contact  with  or- 
ganic matter,  or  possibly  the  graphite  of  the  blue  ochre,  was  re- 
duced to  sulphide  of  iron.  That  the  sulphide  of  iron  is  not  a 
3— P. 


34  D. 


F.  PRIME,  JR.,  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS,  1874. 


deposit  coteioporaneoiis  with  the  rock,  is  evident  from  its  sta- 
lactitic  character.  Black  oxide  of  manganese  occurs  here,  hut 
it  was  impossible  to  see  any  of  it  owing  to  the  condition  of  the 
mine.  Rogers,  in  his  Final  Report  states,  that  it  occurs  in  the 
upper  portion  of  the  ore  on  the  West  side  of  the  mine.  Mr. 
IM’Creath  analj^zcd  the  ore  from  this  mine,  and  obtained  the 


following  result : — 

Iron, 58.500 

Manganese, 0.223 

Sulphur, 0.084 

Phosphorus,-  .....  0.043 

Insoluble  residue,  ....  2.800 


A thin  bed  of  white  saccharoidal  sandstone  occurs  in  this 
mine,  as  in  Schwartz’s ; pieces  of  it  were  observed  thrown  up 
on  the  bank.  Mr.  Breinig  states  that  the  brown  hematite  oc- 
curs above  and  below  this,  but  not  in  it.  Pieces  of  sandstone 
colored  red  b}^  iron  were  also  observed  on  the  dump.  These 
were  examined  by  Mr.  F.  A.  Genth,  Jr.,  and  found  to  contain 
quartz  with  small  quantities  of  a hydrous  silicate  of  alumina 
and  potash,  evidently  damourite.  When  visited,  it  was  the  in- 
tention to  pump  the  mine  dry,  and  recommence  work  in  it ; 
owing  to  the  heavy  pumping  duty,  it  seems  a question  of  grave 
doubt  whether  such  an  undertaking  can  be  made  remunerative. 
To  the  west  of  the  old  mine  a new  excavation  has  been  recently 
commenced  ; it  is  not  yet  of  a sufficient  depth  to  determine  the 
dip  of  the  slate,  as  this  has  not  been  struck.  In  order  to  show 
the  character  of  the  ground,  the  result  of  borings  at  this  mine, 
by  Kathan  Whitely,  are  subjoined,  copied  from  Rogers’  Final 
Report: 


No.  1.— West  of  pres- 
ent WORKINGS. 

No.  2.— Further  West. 

No.  3.— Eastern  boring. 

30  feet  Clay  and  gravel. 

15  feet  Gravel  and  clay. 

14  feet  Clay. 

4'i  “ lirown  hematite. 

1 “ Iron  ore. 

8 “ Iron  ore  and  clay. 

7i  “ Clay. 

15  “ Clay. 

0 “ Iron  ore. 

2 “ Blaek  clay. 

5 “ Slate. 

3 “ Clay. 

12  “ Sulphuret  of  iron 

6 “ In  clay. 

2 “ Copperas  earth. 

5 “ Iron  ore. 

9 “ Pipe  ore  and  cla}". 
4^  “ Clay. 

2 “ Do.  (fe  black  clay. 
2 “ Do.  white  cla}'. 
8 “ Brown  clay  & iron 
2 “ Rock-iron  ore. [ore 
8 “ Clay. 

Bottom  of  boring. 

Bottom. 

Bottom. 

CJKOl.OOY  OF  THE  DISTRICT. 


D.  35 


At  the  new  opening  the  daily  average  of  ore  is  10  to  15  tons; 
16  men  and  hoys  are  employed. 

Nathan  Whitely's  Mine^  No.  21.  At  this  mine,  (ahout  15  feet 
deep,)  the  ore  occurs  in  clay  containing  a great  deal  of  flint.  A 
good  deal  of  the  ore  is  pot  or  homh-shell.  Limestone  crops  up 
in  the  bottom  at  very  varying  depths,  owing  to  its  having  been 
60  much  water-worn.  From  one  of  the  limestone  caverns,  water 
bubbles  up  very  rapidly.  One  of  these  caves  when  sounded  with 
a pole  was  24  feet  below  the  present  surface  of  the  mine.  In 
other  parts  of  the  excavation,  limestone  occurs  at  the  depth  of 
15  feet  from  the  surface.  The  ore  dips  15°  S.  60°  E.  The  mud 
from  the  mud-dam,  which  is  ochre-yellow  in  color,  is  carefully 
dried  and  then  sent  as  ochre  to  the  Blue  Mountain  Paint  Com- 


pany at  Bethlehem. 

Mr.  M’Creath  analyzed  it  and  found 

Insoluble  residue,  - - - 55.88 

Alumina, 19.40 

Ferric  oxide,  ...  . 10.57 

Lime,  ....  . . 0.08 

Magnesia, 1.71 

Water, 8.17 

Alkalies, 3.76 


99.57 

An  analyses  of  the  ore  by  ^Tr.  M’Creath  gives  the  following: 
Insoluble  residue,  ....  20.21 

Iron,  45.70 

Manganese,  - - - • - 0.6 18 

Phosphorus,  - - - - - 0.157 

Sulphur, 0.034 


William  B.  FogeVs  Aline.,  L^o.  18,  leased  by  Carbon  Iron  Co. 
This  was  not  beino;  worked  when  visited.  The  ore  occurs  in 
(lamourite-slate  with  an  abundance  of  yellow  clay.  The  yellow 
clay  containing  the  ore  occurs  in  seams  and  streaks  in  the  white 
decomposed  damourite  slate  and  clay.  The  dip  of  the  slate  is 
14°  S.  65°  E.  The  mine  is  24  feet  deep  at  its  greatest  depth. 
A shaft  has  been  sunk  to  a depth  of  40  feet  farther,  and  it  was 
said  that  the  best  ore  occurred  at  the  bottom  of  the  shaft.  Mr. 
M’Creath  analyzed  the  ore  and  found — 


36  D. 


F.  PRIME,  JR.,  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS,  1874. 


Iron, 

- 

- 

- 48.500 

Manganese,  - 

- 

- 

0.360 

Sulphur, 

- 

- 

0.002 

Phosphorus,  - 

- 

- 

0.328 

Insoluble  residue, 

- 

- 

- 15.580 

Henry  Scliiuartz' s and  W.  B,  FocjeVs  Mine,  No.  22,  leased  by 
the  Crane  Iron  Co.  This  mine  is  38  feet  deep,  and  dips  13® 
S.  36®  E.  The  bottom  of  the  mine,  where  worked,  shows 
white  saccharoidal  sand,  and  a short  distance  above  it  there  oc- 
curs a bed  of  white  saccharoidal  sandstone  intercalated  in  the 
clay,  about  one  inch  thick.  The  white  sand  contains  a little  ore 
above  this  occurs  yellow  clay  and  damourite-slate,  the  former 
forming  seams  in  the  latter,  which  contain  ore  ; above  this  occurs 
gravel.  The  upper  part  of  the  clay  in  and  above  the  slate  con- 
sists only  of  stripping,  and  is  not  washed.  The  ore  is  hoisted  by 
a plane  from  the  mine.  Mr.  M’Creath’s  analysis  shows — 


Iron,  .......  51.750 

Manganese,  ......  0.309 

Sulphur,  ......  trace. 

Phosphorus, 0.270 

Insoluble  residue, 10.350 


Alwyn  Bortz's  Mine,  No.  95,  abandoned.  Nothing  could  be  seen 
here,  the  banks  being  thoroughly  covered  with  surface  wash. 

Alwyn  Bortz^s  Mine,  No.  14,  leased  by  Allentown  Rolling  Mill 
Co.  This  mine  is  36  feet  deep.  Only  yellow  clay  can  be  seen, 
in  which  the  ore  occurs  in  small  pieces  and  as  bomb-shell.  The 
men  say  it  is  only  stripping.  The  daily  average  is  about  12 
tons  of  ore ; 16  men  and  boys  are  employed.  Mr.  M’Crcath^s 


analj^sis  shows — 

Iron, 49.300 

Manganese,  . . . . . . 0.216 

Sulphur,  ......  trace. 

Phosphorus,  ......  0.235 

Insoluble  residue,  . . . . .15.120 


Alwyn  Bortz's  and  William  Koch's  Mine,  No.  13,  leased  by 
Carbon  Iron  Co.  This  forms  but  a single  excavation.  White 
clay  occurs  hero  at  the  west  side  underlying  the  ore  and  having  a 
south-east  dip.  The  mine  is  48  foot  deep,  and  limestone  is  struck  \ 
8 feet  below,  in  fact  water-worn  limestone  occurs  at  west  end. 


GEOLOGY  OF  THE  DISTRICT. 


D.  37 


The  ore  is  said  to  have  dipped  south-east  at  west  end;  it  dip? 
north-west  at  south  side,  but  being  inaccessible  on  account  ol 
water,  it  was  impossible  to  say  how  much.  The  daily  yield  is  30 
to  35  tons ; 50  men  and  bo3^s  are  employed.  There  are  two  planes 
to  this  mine.  An  analysis  of  this  ore  by  Mr.  M’Creath  shows — 


Iron, 40. 600 

Manganese, 0.144 

Sulphur,  ......  trace. 

Phosphorus,  ......  0.270 

Insoluble  residue,  .....  19.880 


Jonas  Grammis'  MinCj  No.  12,  leased  by  Allentown  Rolling 
Mill  Co.  This  mine,  which  is  separated  from  the  preceding  one 
by  a thin  wall  of  clay,  is  identical  with  it  in  character.  The  ore 
occurs  in  ^^ellow  clay  above  white  clay.  The  dip  of  the  clay  is 
east  and  south-east,  but  irregular.  The  average  yield  of  the  mine 
is  25  tons ; 25  men  are  emplo^’ed.  There  is  a plane  in  the  mine. 

Jonas  Grammis''  Mine^  No.  90,  not  worked.  This  mine  is  25 
feet  to  water,  but  it  was  inaccessible,  and  therefore  could  not  be 
examined.  Mr.  M’Creath  analyzed  the  ore  and  found — 


Iron,  .......  49.000 

Manganese,  . . . . . . 0.187 

Sulphur,  ......  trace. 

Phosphorus, 0.172 

Insoluble  residue,  . ' . . . . 15.490 


In  all  this  group  ol*  mines  the  scams  of  ore  appear  to  be  very 
irregular  in  their  character,  and  deserve  a closer  examination 
than  it  was  possible  to  give  them,  owing  to  the  water  in  the  bot- 
tom of  the  excavations. 

Gaclcenhacli's  3Iine,  No.  GO,  leased  by  the  Crane  Iron  Co.  The 
ore  occurs  in  this  mine  in  ^-ellow  clay,  and  no  damourite-slate  or 
white  clay  occurs  with  it,  so  far  as  could  bo  seen.  The  foreman 
states  that  there  are  two  beds  of  ore  in  tlie  mine,  the  upper  one 
about  10  feet  thick,  which  are  separated  b^^  clay.  Water- worn 
limestone  was  struck,  in  some  places,  at  a depth  of  GO  feet ; no 
ore  was  found  under  this,  but  in  cla\^  in  depressions  in  it.  The 
ore  occurs  in  and  above  the  clay,  and  not  in  the  limestone.  The 
mine  is  72  feet  deep  to  water,  and  there  were  about  20  feet  ol 
water  in  it  when  visited.  It  is  impossible  to  keep  the  mine  dry, 
even  with  four  pumps  working  night  and  da}",  owing  to  a spring 


38  D. 


F.  PRIME,  JR.,  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS,  1874. 


in  the  bottom  of  the  excavation.  It  was  stated  that  eleven  mil- 
lion gallons  of  water  were  pumped  out  every  24  hours.  In  order 
to  work  out  the  ore  the  experiment  is  being  tried  of  cribbing  the 
mine  in  the  middle  to  a height  of  38  feet;  then  the  slime  from 
the  washer  is  to  be  dumped  into  the  sump  thus  formed.  It  is 
hoped  that  the  flow  of  water  will  be  stopped  in  this  manner,  so 
as  to  permit  the  extraction  of  the  ore,  whicli,  in  the  meantime, 
is  to  be  removed  from  the  side  of  the  mine  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  crib  to  the  spring.  Owing  to  the  water  in  the  mine  it  was 
impossible  to  take  the  dip,  which  was  said  to  be  30°  to  40°  S. 
and  S.  E. 

A portion  of  the  ore  is  called  red  rock  ore  ” and  appears  red 
besides  having  a red  streak.  It  is  probably  limonite  rendered  an- 
hydrous by  some  local  cause.  AVhen  visited  no  ore  was  being 
extracted  the  whole  attention  of  the  men  being  turned  to  cribbing 
the  bottom.  The  ore  in  the  bottom  is  said  to  be  very  flne  and 
almost  solid.  As  much  as  1300  tons  a month  have  been  extracted; 
30  men  and  boys  arc  employed.  There  are  two  planes  for  hoist- 
ing the  ore.  Mr.  ^rCrcath’s  analysis  of  tlie  ore  gives — 


Water, 

- 

10.830  V 

Iron, 

- 

51.700 

Manganese, 

- 

trace. 

Sulphur, 

- 

0.214 

Phosphorus, 

- 

0.0G6 

Insoluble  residue. 

. 

10.550 

Francis  Fischer's  Aline,  No.  59,  leased  by  the  Coleraine  Iron 
Co.  This  mine  which  lies  in  the  same  range  as  the  mines  previ- 
ously described,  is  a long  distance  from  Gachenbach’s,  being 
separated  from  it  by  Chapperal  Ridge.  In  this  mine  no  rock  is 
apparent,  nor  has  any  been  struck.  The  ore  occurs  as  wash  and 
pot  ore  in  yellow  clay  probably  resulting  from  the  decomposition 
of  the  limestone.  At  the  east  end  the  clay  basins  slightly,  and 
dips  30°  S.  G7°  E.  Tlie  mine  is  3G  feet  deep.  The  daily  average 
of  ore  is  9 to  10  tons ; 10  men  and  boys  are  employed.  Mr. 
M’Creath  analyzed  the  ore  and  found — 

Iron,  ......  45.000 

Manganese, 

Sulphur, 

Phosphorus, 

Insoluble  residue, 


0.G2G 

trace. 

0.190 

21.900 


GEOLOGY  OF  THE  HISTIUCT. 


I).  39 


Returning  now  to  the  Fogelsville  cove  of*  limestone  the  first 
mines  are  at  the  extremity  of  the  slate  nose  forming  the  south- 
ern boundary  of  the  cove. 

J.  and  D.  SmitNs  Mine,  No.  IG,  leased  by  Millerstown  Iron  Co. 
Only  the  most  Southern  excavation  is  worked,  it  is  about  30  feet 
deep  and  is  only  the  surface  stripping.  The  most  northern  open- 
ing is  worked  out  and  full  of  water.  This  is  the  pit  described 
in  Rogers’  Final  Report  as  Schloug^s  Mine;  and  from  the  descrip- 
tion, there  given,  it  is  evident  that  the  ore  occurs  in  damourite 
slate  and  clay.  12  men  and  boys  are  employed  at  the  new  pit. 
Mr.  JM'Creath’s  analysis  shows — 


Iren,  - - - 

- 

- 

- 

28.100 

^Manganese, 

- 

- 

- 

5.029 

Sulphur, 

- 

- 

- 

0.002 

Phosphorus, 

- 

- 

- 

0.551 

Insoluble  residue, 

- 

- 

- 

3G.430 

Haines's  Mine,  No.  15,  abandoned.  The  excavation  is  20  feet 
deep,  but  has  been  abandoned  for  a long  time,  as  there  was  not 
sufficient  ore  to  pay  for  its  extraction.  It  was  impossible  to  see 
anything. 

Charles  Miller's  Mine,  No.  97,  stripping.  This  is  nothing  but 
stripping  the  surface  clay  and  ore  to  a depth  of  2 to  4 feet.  Mr. 
M’Creath  analyzed  the  ore  and  found — 


Iron, 51.40 

Manganese,  0.295 

Sulphur,  - • - - - 0.021 

Phosphorus, - 0.233 

Insoluble  residue,  ...  - 11.29 


Charles  Miller's  Mine,  No.  9,  abandoned.  This  mine  has  long 
been  abandoned  and  is  full  of  water,  hence  it  is  impossible  to  see 
anything.  According  to  Rogers,  in  his  Final  Report,  the  ore  oc- 
curred irregularly  stratified,  (with  damourite  slate?)  and  was 
covered  by  slaty  debris  to  a depth  of  5 to  25  feet.  The  bedding 
of  the  ore  dipped  at  a moderate  angle  to  the  S.  E.,  but  at  100 
yards  the  ore  rose  to  the  surface  again  and  was  worked  at  its 
outcrop.  As  the  bed  sank  from  the  surface  along  the  dip  the  ore 
became  more  solid  ; but  in  places  the  ore  was  replaced  by  bodies 
of  clay  (frem  the  decomposition  of  damourite  slate?) 


40  D. 


F.  PRIME,  JR,,  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS,  1874. 


J.  D.  Scholl  and  Co's  Mine^  No.  11,  leased  by  Lehigh  Valley 
Iron  Co.  The  ore  occurs  very  irregularly  bedded  in  white  clay, 
resulting  from  the  decomposition  of  damourite  slate.  There  are 
quite  large  rolls  in  the  bedding ; so  that  while  the  general  average 
dip  is  10°  S.  5°  E.,  there  are  local  dips  to  the  S.  W.  of  which  one 
is  55°  S.  25°  W.  The  mine  can  produce  25  tons  per  day ; 10 
men  are  employed  at  the  present  time.  There  is  a plane  for 
hoisting  the  ore,  Mr.  M’Creath  analyzed  the  ore  and  found — 


Iron, 

Manganese,  - 
Sulphur, 
Phosphorus,  - 
Insoluble  residue, 


47.000 

7.4G4 

0.003 

0.630 

4.940 


Jacob  Steininger's  Mine,  No.  8,  leased  by  James  Lanigan. 
This  mine  is  25  feet  deep.  The  brown  hematite  occurs  in  da- 
mourite slate  and  overlying  the  white  clay  resulting  from  the 
decomposition  of  the  slate.  The  ore  and  slate  dip  22°  to  40°  S. 
40°  E.  At  the  bottom  of  the  mine  at  the  north  end  there  occur 
12  feet  of  solid  white  clay  with  a thin  streak  of  ore  underneath. 
In  the  bottom  of  the  excavation  a shaft  has  been  sunk  to  the 
depth  of  18  feet,  but  no  ore  was  found  at  a greater  depth  than 
6 feet.  The  shaft  then  passed  into  clay.  No  ore  was  being  ex 
tracted  at  the  time  the  mine  was  being  visited  ; 10  to  15  men  are 
employed.  There  is  a plane  for  hoisting  the  ore.  An  analysis 
of  this  ore  by  Mr.  M’Creath  showed  the  following  constituents:- — 


Iron, 

Manganese,  - 
Sulphur, 
Phosphorus,  - 
Insoluble  residue, 


36.500 

2.932 

0.031 

3.135 

18.900 


Jacob  Steininger's  Mine,  No.  10,  abandoned.  This  mine  which 
has  not  been  worked  for  a long  time,  is  now  exhausted,  but  has 
yielded  a great  deal  of  ore.  It  is  about  600  feet  long  and  15  to 
20  feet  deep  to  the  water  in  it.  The  banks  have  been  so  much 
washed  that  it  is  impossible  to  see  anything  on  them. 

Moyer's  Mine,  No.  6,  leased  by  the  Thomas  Iron  Co.  This 
mine  has  been  very  recently  opened,  being  but  6 feet  deep,  and 
as  yet  the  ore  is  nothing  but  stripping  in  gravel. 

Henry  Stein's  Mine,  No.  5,  leased  by  Thomas  Iron  Co.  In 


GEOLOGY  OF  THE  DISTRICT. 


D.  41 


this  mine  no  damourite  slate  was  apparent,  but  the  ore  occurs  in 
and  over  white  and  pink  clay,  resulting  from  the  decomposition 
of  the  slate.  The  mine  is  47  feet  deep.  At  a depth  of  40  feet 
limestone  was  struck  in  one  portion  of  the  mine  which  dips  12° 
S.  41°  E.  The  top  limestone  is  slaty  and  drab  colored.  It  is  4 
feet  thick  and  overlies  the  ordinary  blue  waterworn  limestone. 
The  clay  overlying  the  limestone  and  containing  the  ore,  dips  42° 
in  the  same  direction.  In  the  limestone  at  the  botlom  of  the 
mine  there  is  an  aperture  about  10  inches  square  into  which  all 
the  water  of  the  mine  pours  and  disappearing  avoids  the  neces- 
sity of  any  pump  to  keep  the  mine  dry.  Mr.  M^Creath’s  analysis 


gives — 

Iron, - - 49.600 

Manganese, 0.583 

Sulphur, 0.007 

Phosphorus,  - - 1.288 

Insoluble  residue,  ...  - - 9.440 


Henry  Stein’s  3Iinej  No.  98,  abandoned.  The  mine  is  10  to  12 
feet  deep  to  water-level.  It  has  not  been  worked  for  a long  time, 
and  nothing  can  be  seen.  From  the  large  quantity  of  clay  that 
has  been  removed,  it  is  evident  that  a great  deal  of  ore  has  been 
taken  out. 

Jesse  Laros’s  Mine^  No.  4,  leased  by  the  Crane  Iron  Co.  The 
mine  was  not  worked  when  visited,  and  the  bottom  was  full  of 
water.  The  depth  of  the  mine  to  water  is  38  feet.  On  the  west 
side  of  the  mine  there  is  a mixture  of  clay,  quartz  and  damou- 
rite-slate,all  in  very  small  pieces,  for  a depth  of  17  feet  from  the 
surface.  Larger  pieces  of  the  slate  occur  on  the  dump,  showing 
that  it  occurs  at  a greater  depth.  The  ore  Avhere  visible,  at  a 
few  points,  occurs  in  clay.  Mr.  M’Creath  analyzed  it  and  found 


Iron,  43.700 

Manganese,  - - - - - - 0.7G3 

Sulphur, 0.005 

Phosphorus, 0.869 

Insoluble  residue,  - - - - - 18.580 


Jesse  Laros’s  Mine^  No.  3,  abandoned.  This  excavation  has 
not  been  worked  for  a long  time.  The  ore,  from  the  fragments 
on  the  side  of  the  mine,  must  have  been  associated  with  damou- 
rite slate. 


42  D.  F.  PRIME,  JR.,  REPORT  OP  PROGRESS,  1874. 

Levi  Lichtemuallner^s  Mine,  No.  2,  leased  by  the  Crane  Iron 
Co.  At  this  mine  there  are  several  excavations.  The  most  south- 
erly one  is  full  of  water  at  the  bottom,  and  is  26  feet  deep  to  the 
water.  There  is  a plane  in  this  pit.  The  small  one  to  the  north 
of  this  is  only  10  feet  deep ; only  stripping  having  been  taken 
from  it.  The  largest  excavation  of  all  lies  still  more  to  the  north  ; 
this  is  40  feet  deep,  and  is  no  longer  worked.  To  the  west  of 
this  is  a small  pit  15  feet  deep.  The  mine  has  not  been  worked 
bince  the  Fall  of  1873.  The  ore  occurs  in  white  clay,  and  over- 
lying  damourite-slate.  In  some  places  the  clay  apparently  over- 
lies  the  ore,  but  clay  or  slate  underlies  it.  It  is  said  that  the 
well,  which  has  been  sunk  to  a considerable  distance,  struck  blue 
slaty  limestone  at  a depth  of  130  feet.  As  the  mine  is  not  being 
worked,  it  was  impossible  to  ascertain  the  dip.  Mr.  M’Creath 
analyzed  the  ore  and  found — 


Iron, 

- 42.800 

Manganese,  - 

0.252 

Sulphur, 

0.036 

Phosphorus,  - 

0.222 

Insoluble  residue,  - 

- 25.040 

Krcendich  and  Licliteniuallner^s  MinCj  No.  7,  leased  by  the 
Crane  Iron  Co.  This  mine,  which  is  50  feet  deep,  has  not  been 
worked  since  the  Fall  of  1873.  A blue  water  worn  limestone  oc- 
curs in  the  bottom  of  the  excavation,  whose  stratification  is  ap- 
parently horizontal.  There  is  evidenth^a  large  quantity  of  dam- 
ourite-slate  and  white  clay  underlying  the  ore,  and  in  some  places 
in  it.  As  the  walls  of  the  mine  are  all  covered  with  debris,  it  was 
impossible  to  take  the  dip  of  the  slate.  Pieces  of  sharp,  angular 
quartz  are  common  in  the  clay  on  the  slope  of  the  mine.  A plane 
is  used  to  hoist  the  ore.  Mr.  M’Creath’s  analysis  shows — 


Iron, 

- 50.400 

Manganese,  - 

1.203 

Sulphur, 

0.002 

Phosphorus, 

0.993 

Insoluble  residue. 

- 10.050 

The  Thomas  Iron  Company  have  sunk  a number  of  shafts  on  the 
Litzenberger  farm  (No.  1)  near  Chapman’s  Station.  Ore  was  found 
distributed  through  the  clay  in  all  of  them.  In  three  of  them 


PLATE  II. — Junction  of  Lowkr  Silurian  Limestones  and  Hudson  River  Slates  2 Miles  S.  \V.  of 


U D. 


F.  PRIME,  JR.,  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS,  1874, 


about  20  leet  of  ore  was  found.  It  seems  somewhat  doubtful 
whether  the  ore  in  sight  will  justify  the  erection  of  machinery. 
Probably  no  very  large  quantity  of  ore  will  be  found. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Belations  of  the  ore  to  the  rocks. 

Before  leaving  this  subject  it  seems  appropriate  to  give  a short 
summary  of  the  manner  in  which  the  ore  occurs.  The  ore  occurs 
in  two  ways  as  Pot  and  Wash  ore  or  as  Pipe  ore.  The  latter  gen- 
erally associated  with  limestone ; often  underneath  its  and  pre- 
senting the  appearance  of  having  been  formed  by  infiltration 
through  it. 

The  Pot  and  Wash  ores  occur  in  place  most  richly  when  asso- 
ciated directly  with  the  damourite  slate  or  clay  resulting  from 
its  decomposition.  They  also  occur  associated  with  the  yellow 
clay  resulting  from  the  decomposition  of  the  Magnesian  limestone. 
But  when  associated  with  this  the  ore  does  not  have  the  same 
regularity  as  when  associated  with  the  slate,  and  almost  always 
large  quantities  of  angular  flint  occur  with  it.  It  presents  the 
appearance  of  having  been  washed  into  depressions  of  the  lime- 
stone. It  is  probable  that  much  of  the  ore  thus  found  owes 
its  jDresent  position  to  the  destruction  of  the  beds  where  it  was 
first  deposited  ; but  not  all  of  it,  as  there  are  instances  where,  after 
going  through  deposits  of  this  kind,  richer  ore  has  been  struck  as- 
sociated with  damourite  clay.  The  experience  during  the  past 
season  was  that  where  the  association  of  ore  and  clay  was  not 
met  with,  the  mines  did  not  continue  for  any  great  depth  and 
were  soon  exhausted,  as  must  necessarily  be  the  case  where  the 
deposits  are  merely  the  debris  of  disintegrated  rocks  washed  into 
cavities  of  the  limestone. 

The  ore  does  not  occur  in  regular  beds  in  the  damourite  slate 
or  clay,  but  generally  forms  small  masses  of  irregular  shape, 
which  soon  run  out ; but  the  separate  masses  are  only  parted 
by  very  narrow  w^alls  of  slate  or  clay.  Frequently  the 
ore,  after  continuing  parallel  to  the  stratification  of  the  slate  or 
clay,  will  suddenly  bend  at  right  angles  to  it  and  after  remaining 
thus  bent  for  a short  distance,  taking  another  bend,  will  again  con- 


H 


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ir' 

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o 

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46  D. 


F.  PRIME,  JR.,  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS,  1874. 


timie  parallel  to  the  stratification.  Sometimes  the  entire  body  of 
clay  and  ore  will  bend  so  as  to  form  corrugated  masses.  ‘‘As 
erosion  went  on  the  oxidized  iron  slipped  with  the  heavy  clays 
slowly  downwards,  the  whole  mass  pressing  upon  itself  and 
crimpling  as  it  slid.”* 

Sometimes  the  body  of  ore  is  solid,  but  this  does  not  generally 
continue  for  any  great  distance. 

Many  persons  have  supposed,  that  the  limonito  was  formed  by 
the  oxidation  of  iron  pyrites.  It  is  to  be  noted  as  a fact  ratlier 
opposed  to  this  view,  that  with  one  exception  it  has  been  impos- 
sible, thus  far,  to  find  iron  pyrites  in  any  of  the  mines  ex- 
amined. That  exception  is  at  Thomas  Breinig’s  mine  and  there 
the  pyrite  is  evidently  of  later  age  than  the  limonite  and  has 
a stalactitic  appearance.  Some  persons,  on  the  other  hand,  have 
supposed  that  the  ore  was  formed  by  the  alteration  of  carbonate 
of  iron,  which  has  been  found  in  some  cases  present  in  the 
limestone.  Still  others  have  supposed  tlie  ores  to  be  the  result 
of  reactions  between  the  limestone  and  ferrous  sulphate. 

As  yet  all  of  tliese  theories  are  mere  hypotheses;  and  before  the 
correctness  of  any  or  all  or  none  of  them  can  bo  proved  it  will 
require  a long  series  of  chemical  investigations. 


CHAPTER  X. 

Hudson  River  Slates  in  Lehigh  County, 

The  Trenton  or  Fossili/erous  limestone  is  absent  in  that  portion 
of  Lclu'gh  county  which  was  examined.  It  is,  however,  probable 
that  the  Utica  shale  is  present.  The  evidence  in  its  favor  being 
the  presence  of  so-called  “blue  ochre”  at  Francis  and  Thomas 
Breinig’s  mines.  It  was  not  seen  at  any  other  point,  although 
carefully  looked  for. 

The  Hudson  River  slates  constitute  a very  thick  formation,  as 
their  outcrops  occupy  tlie  whole  interval  between  the  northern 
edge  of  the  ^lagnesian  limestone  and  tlie  Kittatinny  mountain. 

The  slate  varies  from  bhii sh- gray  to  almost  black,  and  is  at  times 
sandy.  In  some  localities  it  is  extensively  quarried  for  roofing  and 

*See  Prof.  Lesley  in  Proc.  Ain.  Phil.  Soc.,  1873,  on  The  Iron  Ores  of  the 
South  Mountain. 


PLATE  IV.-OVKRTURNED  ANTICLINAL  IN  HUDSON  ItlVER  SLATES  NEAR  FOOELSVILLE. 


48  D. 


F.  PRIME,  JR.,  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS,  1874. 


other  purposes.  During  the  past  season  it  was  only  examined 
incidentally  where  its  base  came  in  contact  with  the  Magnesian 
limestone. 

The  approximate  line  of  contact  between  the  slate  and  lime- 
stone is  very  marked,  being  defined  by  the  transition  from  the 
rolling  country  of  the  limestone  to  the  smooth,  rounded,  dome- 
shaped  hills  of  the  slate  in  which  are  narrow,  deep  valleys  worn 
by  the  streams  coursing  through  them. 

The  first  point  where  the  slate  was  met  during  the  past  season 
was  in  the  nose  which  forms  the  Fogelsville  cove  of  limestone. 
This  nose,  which  rises  about  200  feet  above  the  surrounding 
limestone  country,  forms  a distinct  synclinal,  which  could  not  be 
traced  eastward  through  the  limestone  with  satisfiictory  distinct- 
ness. At  one  point  on  a road  across  the  ridge,  north  of  Breinigs- 
ville,  there  is  a slate  outcrop  on  Francis  Breinig’s  farm,  in  wliich 
the  dip  and  cleavage  vary ; the  former  being 45°  to  57°  N.  W.,  while 
the  latter  is  39°  to  47°  S.  E.  A sketch  of  this  is  given  on  Plate  2. 

On  the  north  side  of  the  ridge  a slate  quarry  has  been  opened 
on  Jacob  SteiningeFs  farm.  Tlie  slate  on* the  dump  does  not  ap- 
pear to  be  of  first  quality.  The  quarry  is  no  longer  worked,  and 
is  full  of  water,  so  that  it  is  impossible  to  ascertain  the  true  dip, 
which  is  apparently  south-east.  At  the  south-west  corner  of  the 
Fogelsville  cove,  the  contact  of  the  slate  and  limestone  may  be 
observed  in  an  abandoned  limestone  quarry  belonging  to  Henry 
Stein.  (See  Plate  3.) 

The  dip  of  the  two  rocks  here  do  not  coincide  ; that  of  the  lime- 
stone is  11°  to  14°  S.  22°  W.,  while  tliat  of  the  slate  is  from 
10°  to  58°  S.  32°  E.  The  latter  is  rotten  and  much  broken  up. 
The  slate  bounds  the  west  side  of  the  Fogelsville  cove,  and  then 
turning  forms  also  the  northern  boundary.  At  one  point  near 
the  road  running  along  the  base  of  the  slate  on  Tiichtcnwallner’s 
farm  the  slate  is  apparently  overturned,  and  shows  a beautiful 
rounded  contortion  of  the  strata.  It  is  in  the  woods  about  450  feet 
N.  of  the  road.  In  tlie  face  exposed,  the  cleavage  is  also  seen  to 
differ  from  the  stratification  and  form  an  angle  with  the  beds.  (See 
Plate  4.) 

Near  Jordan  Church  there  is  a slate  quarry  belonging  to  the 
estate  of  Joseph  A.  Good.  The  quarry  has  not  been  worked 
since  his  death,  about  two  years  ago,  and  is  now  full  of  water. 


eSecl'tcrz  • 


4— D 


Th&  The// 1 as  Or/!'  Dasher. 


50  D. 


F.  PRIME,  JR.,  REPORT  OP  PROGRESS,  1874. 


The  slate  obtained  was  used  for  roofing,  and  from  the  specimens 
seen  appears  to  be  of  a fair  quality.  The  quarry  is  said  to  be  65 
feet  deep,  and  was  worked  for  30  years,  supplying  a large  part 
of  the  neighborhood  with  slate.  There  are  several  other  places 
in  the  district  visited,  where  small  quantities  of  roofing  slate  have 
been  obtained,  but  none  of  them  appear  to  have  been  very  suc- 
cessfulh^  operated. 

Just  south  of  Walbert’s  Station,  on  the  Catasauqua  and  Fogels- 
ville  railroad,  there  is  a cut  in  drab  colored  slate ; the  direction 
of  the  bedding  and  cleavage  are  identical,  being  S.  61°  W.,  but 
the  amount  ol  dip  varies ; that  of  the  bedding  being  32°,  and  the 
cleavage  53°.  As  will  be  seen  from  the  map  the  general  direc- 
tion of  the  slate  dip  is  south-east,  but  this  may  in  a great  mea- 
sure be  due  to  cleavage,  and  it  will  require  a much  closer  exami- 
nation than  there  was  time  for,  during  the  past  season,  to  ascer- 
tain if  the  slate  ridge  running  north  of  Fogelsville  forms  another 
synclinal  or  not. 


CHAPTER  XL 

Mining  and  Washing  of  Brown  Hematite  Ores  in  Lehign  County, 

The  method  of  mining  the  brown  hematite  ores  in  Lehigh 
county  is  universally  by  means  of  open  pits,  in  this  respect  dif- 
fering from  the  method  employed  along  the  Lehigh  river  in  North- 
ampton county,  where  underground  workings  are  more  common. 

In  Berkshire  county,  Massachusetts,  the  plan  of  open  work- 
ings, formerly  so  common,  has  been  abandoned,  with  few  excep- 
tions, for  underground  workings  ; thus  saving  the  very  expensive 
stripping  ibrmerly  necessary.  It  is  a question  to  be  considered 
separately  for  each  mine,  whether  it  is  cheaper  to  work  under- 
ground or  in  open  quarries. 

As  a rule,  when  a pit  is  opened  horses  and  carts  are  employed 
to  carry  the  ore  to  the  washer.  For  this  purpose,  as  the  pit  is 
worked  deeper,  a road  has  to  be  left  by  which  the  horses  can 
ascend.  As  a general  rule,  everything  is  removed.  The  top 
earth  or  stripping  is  washed  or  not,  according  as  it  does  or  does 
not  contain  sufficient  ore  to  pay  for  this  operation.  The  amouni 
of  stripping  to  be  removed  before  reaching  pay  ore  varies  ver^ 


PLATE  VI.— THE  MICKLEY  GUDGEON. 


52  D.  F.  PPJME,  JR.,  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS,  1874. 

much  in  different  localities.  In  some  places  but  a foot  or  two  ol 
top  earth  has  to  be  taken  away,  while  in  other  localities  40  to  50 
feet  of  stripping  have  to  be  carted  off.  After  the  ore  proper  has 
been  reached  there  wull  be  found  places  in  the  pit  so  lean  in  ore 
that  it  does  not  pay  to  wash  them,  these  are  as  a general  rule 
left  standing  unless  paying  ore  is  found  underneath  them  (as  is 
generally  the  case)  when  the  overlying  barren  earth  is  then  of 
course  taken  away  to  get  at  the  ore.  It  is  questionable  whether 
the  method  adopted  by  the  Thomas  Iron  Company  (under  the 
general  superintendence  of  the  Messrs.  Mickley)  is  not  the  best. 
They  take  everything  out  of  the  pit  whether  ore  or  barren  clay  ; 
in  this  manner  equalizing  the  cost  of  extraction  and  rendering  it 
unnecessary  to  expend  a large  sum  of  money  at  one  time  to  re- 
move the  earth  containing  no  ore.  Pickaxes  and  shovels  are 
alone  employed  to  extract  the  ore,  gunpowder  never  being  needed 
to  remove  either  the  clay  or  soft  slate  with  wliich  the  ore  is  asso- 
ciated. The  ore  after  being  loaded  on  to  wagons  is  carried  to 
the  washer,  there  to  be  separated  from  the  clay,  slate  and  boulders 
of  sandstone  associated  with  it. 

The  washers  in  use  are  of  three  kinds,  being  constructed  either 
with  a single  horizontal  shaft,  or  on  Thomas’s  patent  with  two 
shafts,  or  on  Bradford’s  patent. 

The  only  difference  between  the  two  former  consists  in  having 
two  shafts  instead  of  one,  by  which  tlie  quantity  of  ore  washed 
is  much  increased.  To  avoid  repetition  only  the  Thomas  washer 
will  be  described,  more  especially  as  the  washer,  with  a single 
shaft,  has  been  almost  entirely  supplanted  by  the  other.  The 
Thomas  washer  consists  of  two  shafts  20  to  24  feet  long  armed 
with  teeth  which  are  set  at  an  angle  as  in  Plate  5. 

The  shafts  have  an  inclination  of  about  12  to  14  inches  in  their 
entire  length.  They  are  driven  by  steam  power  which  is  con- 
nected with  the  lower  end  of  one  of  the  shafts  by  an  endless 
chain.  The  other  shaft  is  made  to  revolve  by  geared  wheels  at- 
tached to  the  upper  end  of  the  shafts.  The  ore  is  carried  to  the 
upper  end  of  the  washer  by  the  teeth  and  passing  over  a sieve 
it  falls  into  a wheelbarrow.  These  washers  have  all  been  con- 
structed until  recently  with  wing-gudgeons  inserted  into  the  end 
of  the  shafts,  the  result  being  that  the  strength  of  the  shaft  was 
impaired.  In  addition  to  this  the  wood  of  ’’he  shaft  soon  rots 


Second  Geological  Survey  ofPenn  a 


Bradford’s  Iron  Ore  and  Flint  Separator 

END  ELEVATION 


PLATE  VII. 


54  D.  F.  PRIME,  JR.,  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS,  1874. 

where  the  gudgeons  are  inserted,  from  being  exposed  to  the  con- 
tinual action  of  air  and  water.  It  is  not  long  therefore  before 
the  gudgeons  work  loose  and  have  to  be  reset.  To  do  this  so 
that  the  reset  gudgeon  shall  be  true  is  a very  difficult  matter  and 
It  is  probably  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  seventy  per  cent,  of 
them  are  not  true,  the  result  of  which  is  that  in  a very  short 
time  the  boxes  and  the  shafts  are  cut  and  also  that  it  requires  an 
increase  of  power  to  work  the  shafts.  In  order  to  obviate  these 
difficulties  Mr.  J.  W.  Mickley,  of  Hokendauqua,  has  invented  a 
gudgeon,  a wood  cut  of  which  is  subjoined.  (See  plate  6.) 

This  has  a sleeve  fitting  over  the  end  of  the  shaft  and  thus 
does  away  with  the  necessity  of  cutting  a slot  in  the  end,  and  in 
this  manner  greatly  increases  the  strength  of  the  shaft.  It  can 
be  placed  so  as  to  be  true  much  more  readily  than  the  ordinary 
gudgeon  and  it  can  be  replaced  by  any  man  who  can  draw  a bolt. 
In  case,  too,  of  fracture  it  is  evident  that  the  shaft  will  have  to 
break  as  the  flange  and  socket  cannot.  The  washer  is  erected 
on  a frame-work  ten  to  twenty  feet  above  the  ground  in  order  to 
have  an  abundance  of  distance  to  dump  the  ore,  gravel  and  clay. 

The  method  of  washing  the  ore  is  as  follows: — The  ore  is 
dumped  from  a cart  or  car  between  the  two  shafts  at  the  lowest 
end ; care  being  taken  to  have  an  abundance  of  water  to  wash 
away  the  clay  as  it  becomes  disintegrated  by  the  teeth  of  the  shafts. 
For  this  purpose  a wooden  gutter,  perforated  with  holes,  is  car- 
ried the  entire  length  of  the  washer,  the  amount  of  water  being 
diminished  at  will  by  stopping  up  the  holes.  The  ore,  being 
heavy,  sinks  to  the  bottom  of  the  trough  underneath  the  shafts, 
and  is  carried  up  to  the  top  of  the  trough  by  the  teeth  which  are 
set  at  such  an  angle  as  to  accomplish  this  purpose.  The  clay, 
being  light,  is  floated  off  by  the  water  at  the  lo\7er  end  of  the 
trough,  and  is  carried  in  gutters  on  a trestlework  to  the  mud-dam. 
Where  the  clay  is  very  refractory  it  is  apt  to  cake,  and  forms 
balls  a little  larger  than  a man’s  fist.  When  it  is  so  tough  as  not 
to  separate  readily  from  the  ore,  some  of  the  teeth  on  the  shafts 
are  reversed,  so  as  to  retard  the  passage  of  the  ore  through  the 
washer,  and  to  give  the  knife-edges  of  the  teeth  a longer  opp'^r- 
tunity  to  cut  through  the  clay.  The  amount  of  ore  w^ashed  in  a 
day  varies  very  much,  being  between  15  and  35  tons ; the  aver- 
age being  20  to  25  tons. 


Second  Geological  Survey  of  Penn'a 


Bradford’s  Iron  Ore  and  Flint  Separator 


SIDC  ELEVATION 

^ ^ T 

PLATE  Vlll. 


56  D.  F.  PRIME,  JR.,  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS,  1874 

Bradford’s  washer  is  used  by  the  Thomas  Iron  Co.  at  two  of 
their  mines,  and  the  Crane  Iron  Co.  at  one  mine.  In  this  washer 
the  ore  and  rock,  after  being  divided  into  two  or  more  sizes  by 
being  passed  through  the  rotary  sieve,  then  falls  into  a jig  where 
the  ore,  flint  and  slate  are  separated  according  to  their  various 
specific  gravities,  the  ore  being  the  heaviest  going  to  the  bottom. 
In  order  to  make  the  jig  continuous  in  its  action,  self-acting  rakes 
are  arranged  by  which  the  slate  and  flint  aie  raked  off  the  sur- 
face. These  are  then  hoisted  by  a Pater-noster  chain  to  be 
dumped  on  an  inclined  platform.  This  washer  apparently  works 
very  well  for  the  separation  of  flint  and  ore  ; it  does  not  how- 
ever separate  the  ore  so  well  from  the  damourite-slate.  This 
failure  was  apparently  due  in  part  to  a lack  of  sufficient  sieves  for 
sizing.  Partly  to  the  very  light  character  of  a portion  of  the 
ore  mixed  with  the  slate,  so  that  the  difference  in  the  specific 
gravities  of  the  two  is  not  very  great.  Another  defect  of  this 
washer  is  the  comparatively  small  quantity  of  ore  washed  per 
day.  (See  plates  7 and  8.) 

The  following  mines  have,  by  an  oversight,  been  omitted  in 
their  proper  places : 

Thomas  Iron  Company's  31inc,  No.  71.  Not  being  worked 
when  visited,  its  character  is  apparently  identical  with  that  of 
Frank  S.  Lichtenwallner’s,  No.  25. 

John  Sharp's  Mine,  No.  53.  This  mine  has  not  been  worked 
for  a long  time,  and  it  was  impossible  to  see  anything  in  it. 

T.  Smoyer's  Mine,  No.  89.  This  consists  of  one  small  opening 
which  has  not  been  worked  for  some  time,  and  the  sides  are  too 
much  washed  to  see  anything. 

All  mention  of  the  following  mines  of  magnetic  iron  ore  has 
been  omitted,  although  they  are  on  the  map,  it  having  been 
thought  best  to  describe  them  in  connection  with  the  geology  of 
the  South  Mountain. 

No.  45.  Peter  Kline's  Mine, 

No.  46.  Thomas  Iron  Company's  Mine* 

No.  47.  John  Wetzel's  Mine. 

No.  48.  George  Grice's  Mine. 

No.  86.  Daniel  Desch's  Mine. 

No.  87.  Jacob  Newmoyer's  Mine. 

No.  88.  Unknown  owner's  Mine. 


NOTE  BY  THE  STATE  GEOLOGIST. 


D.  57 


Note  hy  the  Stale  Geologist 

The  map,  wliicli  accompanies  this  report,  was  originally  con- 
structed by  Mr.  Ellis  Clark,  Jr.,  with  great  care,  on  a scale  of 
400':  1",  occupying  the  whole  or  parts  of  42  sheets  of  plotting 
paper  ; and  reduced  by  him  to  a scale  of  1,600' : 1"  on  6 sheets 
of  plotting  paper;  the  sheets,  after  being  inked,  were  photo- 
graphed and  transferred  to  zinc  by  Mr.  Wenderoth,  of  Phila- 
delphia. The  saving  of  time  and  labor  by  this  process  is  a capi- 
tal consideration  in  the  economy  of  the  survey.  But  its  chief 
value  consists  in  the  direct  passage  of  the  work,  in  its  integrity, 
from  the  pencil  of  the  field-worker  to  the  eye  of  the  reader, 
without  the  intervention  of  lithographers,  who  are  better  skilled 
indeed  in  drawing,  but  are  ignorant  of  topography  and  geology. 
What  the  map  loses  in  beauty,  then,  it  gains  in  accuracy,  being 
a fac  simile  of  the  office  work  of  the  assistant.  The  exhibition 
of  the  cross  bars  of  the  plotting  paper  is  not  to  be  accounted  a 
defect,  but  an  additional  advantage  to  the  reader,  since  it- places 
a universal  scale  at  his  disposal  for  measuring  distances  in  all 
parts  of  the  district  represented,  and  shows  the  size  of  each  ore 
bank  without  reference  to  the  text.  Each  cross  bar  measures 
1,600  feet,  cross  bars  5,200  feet,  or  nearly  a mile.  The  field- 
work of  all  the  assistants  on  the  survey  is  done  on  an  original 
scale  of  400  feet  to  the  inch,  and  afterwards  reduced. 

The  numbers  on  the  map  are  those  of  the  principal  ore  banks 
in  the  order  in  which  they  were  visited ; and  the  same  numbers 
are  given  in  the  pages  of  the  text,  together  with  the  names  of 
the  owners  or  lessees  of  the  banks.  The  smaller  and  less  im- 
portant are  not  numbered,  but  are  located  accurately  on  the  map. 
To  have  re-arranged  the  numbers  in  their  geographical  order 
would  have  involved  the  re-drawing  of  the  map,  and  a delay  in 
the  publication  ; and  any  new  openings  to  be  hereafter  inserted 
and  reported,  would  disarrange  the  order  of  numbers,  unless 
fractional  numbers  were  employed,  which  would  break  the  sys- 
tem in  another  sense. 

For  the  eye  of  a geologist  the  map  needs  no  coloring,  because 
the  strong  shading,  produced  by  the  close  proximity  of  the  ten 


58  D. 


NOTE  BY  THE  STATE  GEOLOGIST. 


foot  contour-lines  on  the  hill -slopes  and  mountain-sides,  is  a 
sufficient  guide  to  the  areas  occupied  by  the  Hudson  River 
Slates  (Ho.  Ill)  in  the  north,  and  by  the  Potsdam  Sandstone 
(Ho.  I)  and  the  underlying  gneiss  rocks  of  the  South  Moun- 
tain and  Lock  Ridge.  All  the  rest  of  the  map  is  visibly  a 
rolling  plain  of  Limestone  (Ho.  II,)  where  the  contour-lines 
lie  wide  apart. 

The  contour-lines  represent  the  curves  which  the  edge  of  an 
ocean  would  make  if  the  district  were  depressed  to  depths  oi 
300',  310',  320',  330',  340',  &c.,  &c.,  up  to  1,000'  below  its  pre- 
sent  elevation  above  tide.  In  this  case  the  Atlantic  ocean  would 
submerge  southern  Hew  Jersey,  and  send  a bay  up  the  Lehigh 
Valley,  having  its  south  shore  at  the  foot,  or  on  the  slope,  oi 
the  South  Mountain,  and  its  north  shore  against  the  slate  hills. 
Eacli  hundred  foot  contour-line  is  so  marked  in  several  places 
on  the  map ; and  in  some  parts  of  it  the  heights  of  a series  ot 
contours  are  so  marked,  for  the  convenience  of  the  reader. 

Arrows  will  be  noticed  in  many  places.  They  show  the  dip 
of  the  Limestone,  Slate  or  Sandstone  beds,  as  nearly  as  it  could 
be  determined  by  compass.  The  strength  of  the  dip  is  marked  in 
degrees  alongside  of  the  arrows,  0°  being  horizontal  and  90° 
vertical.  A clinometer  was  used  to  measure  the  dip ; but  owing 
to  the  thousand  minor  disturbances  to  which  the  region  has 
been  subjected,  the  pressed  and  faulted  condition  of  the  surface 
rocks,  and  the  predominance  of  cleavage-planes  both  in  the  lime- 
stone and  in  the  slate  layers,  it  is  not  always  possible  to  deter- 
mine absolutely  what  the  dip  is,  how  much,  or  in  what  direc- 
tion. The  dips  marked  on  the  map  are  those  selected  as  the 
most  reliable  out  many  hundreds  of  observations  more  or  less 
untrustworthy.  There  are  very  few  good  rock  exposures  in  the 
district,  much  of  the  drainage  being  by  caverns  underground, 
and  the  streams  flowing  through  wide  shallow  vales  of  lime- 
stone land.  Even  in  the  slate  hills,  where  the  ravines  are  sharp, 
good  exposures  are  not  as  numerous  as  in  countries  of  sandstone 
and  shale  less  cross-cleft  by  pressure.  The  rocks  of  this  dis- 
trict are  nearly  the  oldest  in  the  world  known  to  geologists  ; 
and  they  have  been  so  repeatedly  fractured,  in  difterent  direc- 
tions, and  distorted  by  pressure  (from  the  south-east,)  that  they 
weather  on  hill  slopes  into  small  rhomboidal  blocks,  fall  and 


NOTE  BY  THE  STATE  GEOLOGIST. 


D.  59 


slide  down,  and  cover  up  such  outcrops  as  vegetation  might 
otherwise  leave  exposed. 

Enough  indications  of  dip  are  given,  however,  to  show  to 
the  intelligent  reader  how  the  outcrops  of  the  formations,  con- 
stituting the  great  limestone  mass  of  iN’o.  II,  run  from  south- 
west to  north-east  across  the  map.  It  is  not  desirable  to  fur- 
nish any  information  of  a speculative  character  in  these  re- 
ports. Nothing  but  reliable  facts  can  he  of  any  real  use  in  a 
survey  of  this  sort.  Therefore  no  attempt  is  made  to  show  on 
this  map  sujyposed  belts  of  single  rocks,  or  groups  of  strata. 
Indeed  this  would  be  dangerous.  Professor  Prime  is  occupied 
this  year  (1875)  in  mapping  the  country  between  this  map  and 
the  Lehigh  Liver.  The  map  to  be  published  next  winter  will 
be  a continuation  eastward  of  the  one  published  now,  The 
parry  is  trained  to  the  work,  and  has  better  instruments  and 
more  experience.  The  knowledge  obtained  by  the  work  of 
1874  will  increase  the  ability  of  the  observers  to  understand 
the  outcrops  as  they  approach  the  river,  and  a very  careful  and 
accurate  section  alono;  the  bluffs  on  both  sides  of  the  Lehig-h 
will  probably  throw  a flood  of  light  upon  the  obscurities  of  the 
country  between  Fogelsville,  Emaus  and  Albertis.  The  map 
will  also  be  continued  westward  towards  Leading,  where  a sec- 
tion along  the  Schuylkill  Liver  will  read  us  a new  lesson. 

When  it  is  considered  that  this  extremely  important  belt  of 
iron-ore-bearing  country  has  never  before  been  carefully 
studied  on  an  instrumental  system,  we  may  hope  to  obtain  a 
good  understanding  of  it  by  continuing  the  investigation  from 
end  to  end,  in  spite  of  the  acknowledged  difficulties.  These 
are  in  fact  very  great,  and  increase  in  moment  as  the  study  of 
the  district  advances.  It  seems  a very  easy  matter  to  obtain  the 
knowledge  which  we  want  in  so  open,  well  formed,  almost  level 
valley,  bounded  on  one  side  by  a mountain  faced  by  a well- 
known  rock  underlying  the  limestones,  (Potsdam  S.  S.,  No.  I,) 
and  on  the  other  by  hill  slopes  of  unmistakable  overlying  slates, 
(Hudson  Liver,  No.  III.)  But  what  seems  a facility  turns  out 
to  be  the  principal  difficulty.  What  seems  so  smooth  and  regular 
a surface  conceals  one  of  the  most  contorted,  twisted,  fractured 
cleft,  plicated,  complicated  and  even  overturned  set  of  subsoil 
rocks  in  the  world.  Besides  the  three  or  four  large  and  pretty 


60  D. 


NOTE  BY  THE  STATE  GEOLOGIST. 


regular  anticlinal  waves  which  issue  from  the  South  Moun- 
tains and  the  hills  of  Easton  and  strike  diagonally  westward 
up  the  valley  toward  Port  Clinton  on  the  Schuylkill,  there  are 
hundreds  of  sharp  little  rolls  which  seem  to  defy  classification, 
and  most  of  these  are  almost  entirely  concealed  by  a top  cover- 
ing of  mouldered  limestone  clay,  soil  and  vegetation.  Sink- 
holes arc  numerous;  and  the  whole  underground  is  a labyrinth 
of  caverns,  dissolved  out  of  the  limestone  formation  by  rain 
water  charged  with  carbonic  acid,  the  great  agent  in  the  erosion 
of  the  United  States. 

It  is  not  traveling  outside  the  record  to  allude  here  to  the 
greatest  of  all  geological  phenomena — the  lowering  of  the  old 
surface  of  the  earth  to  its  present  height  above  tide.  The 
people  of  Lehigh  and  Northampton  counties  ought  to  be  made 
aware  that  where  their  fertile  fields  now  are  was  once,  in  far 
back  geological  ages,  a country  'as  high  in  the  air  as  the  plateau 
of  Thibet  is  now.  On  the  top  of  their  limestones  No.  II,  and 
their  slates  No.  Ill,  were  piled,  in  successive  stories  ascending, 
the  sand-rocks  of  the  North  Mountain  (No.  lY),  the  red  shales 
hydraulic  limestones,  sand-stones  and  olive  shales  (Nos.  Y,  YI, 
YII  and  YIII)  of  the  Stroudsburg  and  Lehighton  Yalley,  the 
red  and  white  sandstones  (Nos.  IN  and  X)  of  the  Mauch 
Chunk  Mountain,  the  red  shale  (No.  XI),  and  the  coal  measures, 
— to  a height  of  at  least  30,000  feet.  The  proof  of  this  is 
perfectly  plain  and  easy.  All  that  pile  of  old  country  has  been 
in  lapse  of  almost  infinite  ages  frittered  away  by  snow,  ice  and 
rain  ; the  softer  rocks  giving  away  first  and  letting  the  massive 
sandstones  down ; these  being  then  broken  and  rolled  to  gravel 
and  sand,  and  carried  into  the  ocean.  The  whole  tide-water 
country  of  the  United  States  has  been  made  out  of  that  old 
mountain  highland,  the  remnants  of  which,  our  Pennsylvania 
mountains,  stand  witnesses  of  the  operation ; one  which  is  still 
going  on.  All  the  watercourses  tributary  to  the  Delaware  and 
Lehigh  Rivers  are  still  busily  engaged  lowering  the  surface  of 
Lehigh  and  Northampton  counties  (and  all  other  counties  in 
the  State)  to  a level  still  nearer  that  of  the  surface  of  the  ocean. 

But  the  principal  agent  in  this  great  work  has  been  rain 
water  charged,  as  it  always  is,  with  carbonic  acid,  dissolving  the 
limestone  formations  underground. 


NOTE  BY  THE  STATE  GEOLOGIST. 


D.  01 


The  cutting  down  of  the  surface  by  brooks  and  rivers  is  slow 
work.  This  work  has  in  all  ages  been  hastened  by  the  simul- 
taneous hollowing  out  of  a labyrinth  of  caverns,  the  roofs  of 
which  fall  in  finally  and  successively,  letting  down  the  sand  and 
shale  formations,  and  intensifying  the  action  of  rivers.  The 
operation  of  this  agency  can  be  best  studied  throughout  the 
blue  grass  country  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  where  it  is  easy 
to  see  how  the  edges  of  the  coal  fields  have  gradually  in  this 
manner  been  set  miles  asunder ; and  in  the  interior  limestone 
valleys  of  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia,  such  as  Sinking  Valley; 
but  it  can  be  studied  anywhere  in  the  Easton,  Reading,  Leba- 
non and  Cumberland  Valley  just  as  well. 

Three  dates  are  possible  : First,  the  date  of  the  beginning : 
the  end  of  the  Coal  Era.  For  no  one  doubts  that  every  coal 
bed  was  made  of  growing  plants  on  nearly  a dead  level,  and 
close  to  tide  level.  Therefore  the  great  elevation  of  the  United 
States  Highland  must  have  happened  after  the  last  coal  bed  was 
made. 

Secondly  the  date  of  the  Kew  Red : before  which  a great 
part  of  the  work  must  have  been  accomplished ; for  the  Xew 
Red  rocks  were  evidently  deposited  in  an  estuary,  south  of  the 
South  Mountains  and  north  of  the  Philadelphia  hills;  and 
they  rest  on  the  worn  away  edges  of  the  limestones  Ko.  II. 
Kow  the  Kew  Red  rocks  are  no  where  seen  north  of  the  South 
Mountain  range,  even  in  the  open  place  opposite  Lebanon, 
where  the  top  surface  of  Kew  Red  is  at  present  several  hundred 
feet  higher  than  the  present  surface  of  the  limestone ; there- 
fore, it  is  evident  that  the  surface  of  the  limestone  valley  had 
not  yet  been  worn  away  deep  enough  to  allow  the  waters  of  the 
Kew  Red  to  flow  over  it.  It  is  plain  that  the  surface  of  the 
Allentown-Reading-Lebanon  Valley  has  been  worn  down  at 
least  1,000  feet  since  the  date  of  the  Kew  Red.  And  there  has 
been  abundant  time  for  a much  greater  waste  ; for  since  the 
Kew  Red  rocks  were  carried  up  out  of  their  water  bed,  all  the 
Cretaceous  and  Tertiary  formations  of  southern  Xew  Jersey, 
Delaware,  and  the  Southern  States,  have  been  deposited. 

The  third  date  is  the  glacial  epoch  ; which  was  not  known 
in  this  part  of  the  State  until  recently.  The  marks  of  the 
great  ice-cake  were  noticed  nearly  forty  years  ago  on  the  Sum- 


62  D. 


NOTE  BY  THE  STATE  GEOLOGIST. 


mit  of  Penobscot  Knob  overlooking  Wilkesbarre  ; on  the  crest 
of  Locust  Mountain  west  of  Ashland ; and  in  the  notch  at  the 
top  of  Peter’s  Mountain  north  of  Harrisburg  ; but  these  marks 
were  ascribed  to  water.  Agassiz  showed,  and  everybody  has 
become  convinced  now,  that  they  were  made  by  ice,  which  flowed, 
in  a sheet  several  thousand  feet  thick,  southward,  over  our  moun- 
tains, just  as  ice  now  flows  over  Greenland.  Eecently  a glacial 
moraine  has  been  found  at  Franklin,  Kew  Jersey,  opposite  the 
celebrated  zinc  mines.  And  this  spring  (1875)  Mr.  Chance  has 
mapped  what  seems  to  bo  a similar  moraine  behind  the  Lehigh 
Water  Gap  ; near  where  Mr.  C.  E.  Hall  has  just  found  (July  10, 
1875,)  the  evident  work  of  glacial  pushing  over  all  the  edges 
of  the  {Clinton) slates  towards  the  gap;  and  upon  the  broken  edges 
lies  a genuine  top-dressing  of  glacial  clay  and  boulders  {till.) 
Mr.  Prime  has  wisely  said  nothing  in  his  report  about  his  ob- 
servations of  supposed  glacial  drift  in  his  district,  because  so 
difficult  a subject  should  not  be  more  than  alluded  to  during  its 
investigation,  and  his  work  of  1875  between  the  Fogelsville 
and  Emaus  countiy  (represented  on  our  map)  and  the  river  at 
Allentown  and  Ilockandaqua,  and  so  on  to  Easton,  will  proba- 
bly give  him  facts  enough  to  base  some  judicious  conclusions 
upon  in  his  next  report. 

We  are  therefore  not  yet  in  a situation  to  say  how  far  the 
surface  iron  ores  are  connected  with  the  glacial  drift,  or  whether 
any  real  connection  at  all  exists  between  them. 

Mr.  H.  M.  Chance  has  prepared  elaborately  surveyed  and 
plotted  contour-line  maps  of  the  three  principal  gaps  through 
the  Korth  Mountain,  by  which  the  waters  of  the  Delaware,  Le- 
high and  Schuylkill  Rivers  issue.  Although  these  are  in  Pro- 
fessor Prime's  district  and  might  be  expected  in  this  book,  yet 
it  seems  more  desirable  to  keep  all  that  concerns  the  Brown 
Hematite  Iron  Ore-beds  of  the  limestone  together.  The  rocks 
of  the  Korth  Mountain  belong  to  a later  and  difterent  geologi- 
cal system.  The  preparation  of  Mr.  Chance’s  maps  for  the  press 
would  delay  the  publication  of  this  report ; and  it  is  moreover 
hoped  that  the  Wind  Gap  and  the  Swatara  Gap  may  be  added 
to  the  series  to  make  our  sections  of  the  Upper  Silurian  Rocks 
more  complete,  and  shed  light  on  the  origin  and  growth  of  our 
mountain  gaps. 


NOTE  BY  THE  STATE  GEOLOGIST. 


D.  (>:] 


While  the  above  pages  were  going  through  the  press,  the  dis- 
covery was  made  of  what  seem  to  be  Chazy  fossils  along  the 
northern  border  of  the  limestone  land.  It  looks  as  if  the  Tren- 
ton limestones  proper  (with  the  Bird’s  eye  and  Black  river  sub- 
divisions of  the  group)  were  really  wanting  to  this  district;  in 
other  words,  all  Prof.  Rogers’  Matinal  limestones  ; leaving  noth- 
ing but  the  Auroral  limestone  group  (which  underlie  in  other 
parts  of  the  United  States  the  Matinal)  to  occupy  the  ground. 
The  breccia  or  angular  pudding-stone  limestones  seen  along  the 
edge  of  the  slate  country,  show  that  there  was  a coast  of  dry 
land  close  by.  Constant  changes  of  sea  level,  we  know,  took 
place  in  those  early  ages.  In  Canada  and  northern  ISTew  York  - 
the  sea-level  rose  after  the  Calciferous  and  Chazy  rocks  were 
deposited,  and  overflowed  great  regions  of  land  made  up  ot 
older  rocks.  On  these  older  rocks  the  horizontal  beds  of  the 
Trenton  age  (first  and  lowest  Bird’s  eye,  then  Black  river,  and 
lastly  Trenton  proper)  now  lie,  either  in  broad  sheets,  or  in  frag- 
mentary patches,  the  rest  having  been  in  lapse  of  time  eroded 
away ; and  therefore  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States  one  may 
look  for  a break  in  the  series  at  the  top  of  the  Chazy.  In  Le- 
high county,  Pa.,  the  Chazy  seems  to  have  been  left  dry  land 
for  a long  while  (during  the  Trenton  age)  and  then  to  have 
been  again  overflowed,  allowing  the  Utica,  or  the  still  higher 
Hudson  River  slates  to  be  deposited  directly  upon  it.  A dif- 
ferent set  of  animals  lived  in  the  muddy  limestone  waters  oi 
the  Trenton  age,  from  what  had  lived  in  the  magnesian  lime 
waters  of  the  Calciferous  age.  So  that  both  the  chemical  char- 
acter of  the  limestone  and  the  forms  of  animal  life  found  in  it, 
taken  together,  enable  us  to  determine  the  age  of  it,  and  to  pre- 
dict from  what  is  known  of  it  elsewhere,  what  its  minerals  will 
be  like. 

To  assist  the  general  reader  the  following  table  of  rock  for- 
mations is  appended : 

Table  of  Rock  Formations 

arranged  in  the  order  of  the  ages  from  above  downwards^  as  they 
are  recognized  in  America^  and  according  to  the  present  state  of  our 
knowledge. 

The  Recent  river  muds  and  ocean  sands  and  gravels. 

The  Glacial  drift,  wherever  it  exists 


C4  D. 


NOTE  BY  THE  STATE  GEOLOGIST. 


The  Tertiary  sands,  days  and  marls  of  Southern  New  Jersey 
and  other  Tide  Water  States,  the  Missouri  River  Region,  the 
Rocky  Mountain  Parks,  the  Pacific  Coast  ranges,  and  the  Cen- 
tral British  Possessions. 

The  Cretaceous  shales,  sands,  green  marls,  and  pottery  claya 
of  Middle  New  Jersey  and  the  Southern  States,  the  Mississippi 
and  Missouri  regions.  Rocky  Mountains,  &c.  The  chalk  of 
Europe  and  of  Western  America  belong  to  this  age. 

The  Neio  Red  rocks  of  the  Connecticut  River  Valley,  of  Mid- 
dle New  Jersey,  and  of  Bucks,  Berks,  Lancaster,  York  and 
Adams  counties,  Pennsylvania,  continued  through  Maryland 
and  Virginia,  by  patches,  to  the  James  River  and  Richmond 
Coal  basins,  and  the  Dan  River  and  Deep  River  basins  in  N.  C 
The  supposed  bottom  rocks  of  this  age  are  found  in  Kansas  and 
the  far  west,  and  perhaps  in  Greene  county,  Pennsylvania. 

The  Coal  measures,  anthracite  and  bituminous. 

The  Great  Conglomerate,  No.  XII,  of  Mount  Pisgah,  called 
by  Professor  Rogers  Serai. 

Red  Shale,  No.  XI,  {Uinhral)  around  Mauch  Chunk. 

White  Catskill.,  No.  X,  {Vespertine)  of  the  Second  Mountain. 

Red  Catskill,  No.  IX,  (Old  Red  of  England)  Pocono  Mountain. 

Chemung  shales,  (VIII,  Cadent^)  holding  the  oil-rocks. 

Portage  sands  and  shales,  (VIII,  Vergent.) 

Hamilton  black  slates,  (VIII,  Sccdent ) ; streaks  of  coal. 

Upper  Helderherg  limestones,  &c.  (VIII,  Post  Meridial.) 

sandstones  (VII,  Meridial)  Stone-Ridge,  Lehigh  Gap. 

Lower  Helderherg  cement  layers,  &c.,  (VI,  Premcridial.) 

Niagara  limestone  (VI)  at  Walpack  Bend  of  Delaware  river. 

Clinton  Red  Shales  (V,  Surgent)',  with  fossil  ore. 

Medina  red  sandstones  (IV) ; with  rock  ore. 

Oneida  Conglomerate  (IV,  Levant^)  making  the  ribs  of  the 
North  or  Kiltatinny  Mountain. 

Hudson  River  Slate  Group  (III,  MatinaQ  constituting  the 
northern  half  of  the  great  valley. 

Treyiton  Limestone  Group  (II,*  Matinal.) 

Calciferous  or  Magnesian  Limestone  Group  (II,  Auroral.) 

Potsdam  Sandstone  and  Slate  (I,  Primal^)  resting  on  the  gneiss 
and  slates  of  the  South  Mountain  in  Pennsylvania,  but  consist- 


*II  being  the  original,  and  Matinal  being  a subsequent  arrangement. 


NOTE  BY  THE  STATE  GEOLOGIST. 


D.  65 


ing  of  many  tliousand  feet  of  conglomerates,  sand  rocks  and 
slates  along  tlie  western  base  of  the  Blue  Itidge  and  Black 
Mountains  of  iTortli  Carolina,  and  there  called  Chilowhee  and 
Ocooee.'^ 

All  the  above  XII  formations,  with  the  coal  measures  at  the 
top,  together  form  the  Palaeozoic  System  ; or  Older  Secondary. 
They  measure  forty  thousand  (40,000)  feet  in  thickness  in  Penn- 
sylvania; and  in  the  bottom  layers  was  once  thought  to  be  the 
beginning  of  life  on  the  planet.  But  of  late  years  multitudes 
of  older  forms  of  life  have  been  discovered  in  the  following 
three  formations  lying  underneath  the  Potsdam,  viz : 

The  Menevian.  \ 

The  Harlech  >•  Lower  Cambrian  System  of  "Wales. 

The  Llanherris,  ) 

Menevian  fossils  have  been  discovered  in  a thick  formation 
of  the  same  age  at  Braintree  (near  the  Quincy  granite  quarries 
of  Massachusetts,)  at  St.  John  in  Xew  Brunswick,  and  at  St. 
Johns  in  Xewfoundland. 

Underneath  the  Potsdam  in  Canada,  at  Hastings  and  other 
places  north  of  Lake  Ontario,  lie  three  great  systems  of  rocks, 
of  immense  thickness,  and  almost  wholly  destitute  of  the  re- 
mains of  life  forms.  And  to  these  belong  the  rocks  of  the 
three  great  mountain  ranges  of  the  north,  viz: 

The  Green  mountains  of  Vermont, 

The  White  mountains  of  Xew  Hampshire,  and 

The  Laurentian  mountains  of  Canada ; but  the  exact  order 
in  which  their  innumerable  beds  of  various  minerals  must  be 
placed  (mica  slates,  talc  slates,  serpentines,  chlorite  slates,  quartz 
rocks,  conglomerates,  limestones,  graphites,  iron  ores,  traps, 
prophyries,  gneisses,  granites)  has  not  yet  been  made  out. 

The  original  names  (given  by  Dr.  Hunt)  Laurentian  and  IIii- 
ronian  have  been  accepted  by  all  geologists,  the  Laurentian 
being  the  lowest  and  oldest  system  of  rocks  known.  But 
whether  the  Green  Mountain  system  {lliironian)  be  above  or  be- 
low the  White  Mountain  system  {Monlalhan)\  is  not  yet  settled. 

* Dana’s  Manual,  p.  163  (1874),  makes  the  Chiloxohce  only  to  represent  the 
Potsdam  ; and  the  Ococc  to  represent  the  next  lower  (Cambrian)  S3'stom. 

^ Dr.  T.  Sterry  Hunt’s  name  for  this  system,  not  yet  accepted. 

5— D. 


66  D. 


NOTE  BY  THE  STATE  GEOLOGIST. 


Tlie  section  along  the  Scliuylkill,  above  Philadelphia,  shows 
about  20,000  feet  of  these  rocks;  and  the  serpentines  and  talc 
slates  of  the  lliironian  or  Green  Mountain  series  seem  to  be  on 
top ; the  gneisses  of  the  White  Mountain  series  (in  the  Park  at 
Philadelphia)  at  the  bottom. 

The  Laurentian  s^^stem  is  represented  by  the  Highlands  of 
Hew  York  and  Hew  Jersey ; the  Easton  and  Allentown  and 
Heading  hills  ; the  South  mountains  of  Carlisle  and  Chamhers- 
burg  and  the  Blue  Ridge  of  Virginia.  Only  the  top  layers  of 
this  great  system  are  visible  in  the  district  of  this  report ; and 
the  Potsdam  lies  unconformably  and  directly  upon  them,  no 
ocean  having  been  here  during  Menevian,  Huronian,  Montalban 
and  Horian  (Upper  Laurentian)  ages.  Any  discussion  of  these 
points  would  he  out  of  place  in  this  report,  which  does  not 
touch  upon  the  foundation  rocks  underneath  the  dolomites  and 
sandstone  of  the  valley.  What  is  known  on  the  subject  will 
he  told  in  the  reports  of  other  districts  occupied  principally  by 
those  rocks. 

The  use  in  these  pages  of  the  terms  Upper  and  Lower  Silurian 
is  merely  for  convenience.  Their  proper  use,  and  that  of  the 
terms  Upper  and  Lower  Cambrian^  will  be  discussed  elsewhere. 

The  above  table  of  formations  is  here  given  only  for  conve- 
nient reference  by  the  reader,  and  to  show  how  exceedingly 
small  a proportion  of  the  whole  100,000  feet  of  known  strata 
in  the  earth’s  crust  occupies  the  rolling  surface  of  Lehigh  county. 

* In  1872.  the  writer  made  a section  of  12,000  feet  of  slates  and  quartzites, 
holding  iron  ore,  in  the  heart  of  the  South  Mountain  mass,  a map  of  which 
will  be  published  in  the  Reports  of  Progress  of  the  Survey  for  1875.  Dr.  T. 
Sterry  Hunt  has  recently  (Aug.  1875)  made  a reconnoissance  from  Gettys- 
burg to  Chambersburg,  during  which  he  thought  he  recognised  the  old  ortho- 
clase-porphyries  of  the  Huronian  of  Missouri,  and  of  eastern  Massachusetts 
and  Maine.  Two  belts  of  these  red  stratitied  porphyries,  with  argillites,  dio- 
rites,  epidosites  and  chlorites,  intercalated  as  usual;  and  two  beltsof  Primal 
sandstone,  unconformable  upon  the  former.  The  conglomerate  beds  ol  tb^ 
overlying  Primal  hold  pebbles  of  Huronian. 


T N D E X 

TO  PROF.  F.  PRIME,  Jr’s.  REPORT  OP  PROGRESS,  IN  18U 


PAGE. 

Adams  county,'  New  Red  Sandstone 4 

Action  of  rivers  in  lowering  the  surface 60 

Agassiz 62 

Alabama,  4;  damourite  slate  in 14 

Alburtis 18,59 

Allentown 20 

Allentown  Iron  Company,  23, 28, 29  ; mine 10,20,73 

Allentown  Rolling  Mill  Company 18,36,37 

Anticlinal  s in  Kittatinny  Mountain 1 

Anticlinal  waves  of  the  Great  Valley  rocks 60 

Appalachian  Sea 4 

Archaean  Period,  ores,  4 ; rocks  in  South  Mountain 6 

Ashland 62 

Barber  (J.)  & Co.’s  mine,  22  ; siderito 22 

Bastian’s  (Jonas)  mine 16,31 

Bellefonte,  Birdseye  fossils  at 8 

Berks  county,  Potsdam  sandstone  in 7 

Berkshire,  Massachusetts,  mining  brown  hematite 50 

Bethlehem,  Potsdam  sandstone  near 7 

Bethlehem  Iron  Company 23 

Birdseve  limestone,  3,7;  fossils  in  Centre  county 8 

Black  River  limestone 3,7 

Blank’s  mine 16,26 

Blue  Mountain,  1;  Hudson  River  slates 3 

Blue  Mountain  Paint  Company 35 

Blue  Grass  country  of  Kentucky 61 

Blue  Ridge 2 

Bastian’s  (Elwyn)  mine 16,31 

Belts  of  iron  ore-boaring  rocks 59 

Bombshell  ore .* 15 

Booth  and  Garrett’s  analysis 11 

Bortz’s  (Alwyn)  mines 13, 14, 16,36 

Bradford’s  washer 52, 56 

Breinig’s  (Francis)  mine,  16,32;  blue  ochre,  46;  slate  outcrop 48 

Breinig’s  (Thomas)  mine,  8,16,33;  blue  ochre,  46;  pyrite 46 

Bucks  county.  New  red  sandstone 4 

Bushong  and  Company 27 

Butz’s  mine. 16, 26 

Calciferous  Formation 2, 5, 6, 7 

Canadian  Period 2 

Carbon  Iron  Company 29,31,35,36 

Carbonate  of  iron,  analysis,  from  Barber’s  mine 22 

[67  D.] 


68  1). 


INDEX. 


PAGE. 

Carborjic  acid,  the  prime  agent  of  erosion 6C 

Cavernous  structure  of  tiie  underground 58, 60 

Castle  (Sydney,)  Jr.,  analyses  by 6,12 

Centre  county,  Birdseye  fossils 8 

Central  Pennsylvania,  limestone  valleys 2 

Chance  (H.  M.)  contour  maps 62 

Chapman’s  Station,  trial  pits 17, 42 

Chapperal  Ridge 38 

Cha/y  limestone,  2,  7 ; fossils  in  Lehigh  county 8 

Clark  (Ellis)  Jr 8,57 

Cleavage  planes  numerous  and  embarassing 58 

Clinton  formation  slates 62 

Coal  era  date 61 

Coleraine  Iron  Company 19, 38 

Concealment  of  the  rocks  by  subsoil  and  soil 59 

Contact  of  slate  and  limestone  in  Stein’s  quarry 48 

Contour  maps  of  Delaware,  Schuylkill  and  Lehigh  Gaps 58,62 

Copperas  Mine 33 

Crane  Iron  Company 16,18,20,28,31,36,37,41,42,56 

Crane  & Thomas  company’s  mine 16, 30 

Cretaceous  of  New  Jersey 61 

Cross  bars  on  plotting  paper  shown  on  the  map 57 

Cumberland  county  limestones 2 

Cumberland  Valley 1,61 

Damourite  slate,  3;  analyses,  12;  at  Salm-Chateau,  14;  Upper  Primal 
Slate  of  Rogers,  14;  in  Alabama,  14;  Vermont,  14;  Kittatinny  Val- 
ley, 14;  at  base  of  vSouth  Mountain,  15;  at  Fogelsville 15 

Damourite  clay,  13  ; analyses 13 

Dana  (J.  D.)  2;  on  hydro-mica  slates 14 

Dates  fixed  in  the  progress  of  erosion 61 

Dauphin  county  New  red  sandstone 4 

Delaware  River 1,3 

Delaware  Water  Gap,  1 ; Contour  map 62 

Desh’s  Mine,  24 ; (magnetic  mine,) 56 

Dq>  obscured  by  cleavage  planes 58 

Direction  from  which  the  pressure  came 58 

Disturbance  of  the  whole  district 58 

Dolomite,  3 ; of  Lehigh  county,  10 ; analyses 10, 11 

Drift  (glao'al)  in  the  district 62 

Easton  hills,  60;  Valley 61 

Elevation  of  United  States  Higliland 61 

Emaus,  20,  28,  59 ; Potsdam  sandstone,  near 7 

Erosion  above  and  below  the  surface 58 

Felton  (S.M.) . 25 

First  range  of  brown  hematite  mines 17 

Fischer’s  (Francis)  mine 16,38 

Fogel’-s  (W.  B.)  mines,  16,  35,  36;  quarry 10 

Fogelsville,  59;  cove  of  limestone,  10,48;  damourite  slate 15 

lormation  No.  I.,  Potsdam  sandstone  in  Lehigli  county 5 

Formation  No.  IT.,  Magnesian  limestone  in  Lehigh  county 7 

Formation  No.  III.,  Hudson  River  slates 3 

Formation  No.  IV.,  Sandstone  of  North  Mountain 4 


INDEX. 


D.  69 


Fossils  in  Chazy  limestone 

Fossiliferous,  (Trenton,)  limestone  absent  in  Lehigh  county 

Fourtli  range  of  brown  hematite  mines 

Franklin  county  limestones 

Franklin  (N.  J.)  moraine 

Frantz’s  quarry , 

Gacken bach’s  mine 

Gaps  in  the  mountains 

Gaumer’s  mine 

Genth  (F.  A.)  analyses 10, 

Genth  (F.  A.,  Jr.)  analysis 

Geology  and  topography  of  Lehigh  District 

Gernart’s  mine 

Glacial  Age,  61 ; glacial  moraines 

Gneiss 

Good’s  (Joseph  A.)  slate  quarry 

Grammis’  (Jones)  mines 

Great  Valley 

Greenland,  flow  of  ice  over 

Grice’s  (George)  mine,  (magnetic,) 

Gudgeon  (Mickley’s,)  patent 

Guth’s  (Francis)  mine 

Hagenbusch,  Lehr  and  Company 

Haines’  mine 

Hall  (C.  E.)  on  Chazy  fossils,  8;  discovery  of  glacial  action 

Harrisburg 

Hartzell  and  Keck 

Haycock  Hill 

Headden  (W.  P.)  analysis  by 

Hematite  (brown)  ores,  ranges,  &c 7,15,16,17,25, 

Hensinger  Heir’s  farm  trial  pits,  24;  analysis  of  damourite,  12;  mines, 

Hensinger  and  Saul’s  mine 

Hensingerville 

Hertzog’s  (Aaron)  mine 

Highlands 

Hill  clay,  at  Easton 

Hudson  River  slates,  (III,)  J, 5,44,58;  ridge  8;  in  Lehigh  county 

Jordan  Church,  slate  quarry,  near 

Kaiser’s  (Harry)  mines 16, 

Kentucky ; blue  grass  country 

Kerschner’s  mines 16, 

Kiefer’s  mine 

Kittatinny  Mountain,  1 ; Hudson  River  slates 

Kittatinny  Valley,  1;  damourite  slates 

Kline’s  (Peter)  mine 

Koch’s  (William)  mine 

Kolb’s  (Israel)  mine 

Krsemlich  and  Lichtenwallner’s  mine,  17,42;  analysis  of  damourite 

slate,  12 ; of  damourite  clay 

Kreischman’s  (Jonas)  mines 

Kuhn’s  quarry 

Labrador 


PAGE. 

8 

46 

32 

2 

62 

11 

16,37 

62 

16.19 
12, 32 

34 

1 

16, 31 
62 
4 

48 

16,37 

1,2 

62 

56 

54 

16.31 
18 

16,39 

62 

62 

21 

4 

6 

30. 32 
23 

23 
8 

16.17 
2 

14 

46 

48 

18,26 

61 

18.19 

24 

3 
14 
22 

16, 36 
28 

13 

16. 18 
11 

4 


70  D. 


INDEX. 


PAGE. 

"Lancaster  county,  2 ; New  red  sandstone 4 

Lanigan’s  (James)  mine 24,40 

Laros’  (Jesse)  mines,  16,41;  (Reuben) 16,21 

Laurer’s  (Milton)  mine 16,29 

Lebanon;  open  country,  61 ; Valley 1,61 

Lebanon  county,  New  red  sandstone,  4;  limestones 2 

Lehigh  church,  8;  couniy,  60;  limestones,  2;  Potsdam  sandstone 5 

Lehigh  Iron  Company,  21,  31 ; damourite  in  quarry 12 

Lehigh  Mountain,  2 ; formation,  5;  Water  Gap  1;  contour  map 62 

Lehigh  Valley  Iron  Company 40 

Lehighton  Valley 60 

Lepidocrocite 15 

Lesley’s  theory  of  erosion  indicated 58,59,60,61 

Lichtenwallner’s  (Frank  S.)  mine,  16, 30, 56 ; (Levi) 16,42 

Limestone  ; Birdseye,  3, 7, 8 ; Black  River,  3, 7 ; No.  II,  58 ; contact  with 
slate  in  Stein’s  quarry,  48 ; in  Cumberland,  Franklin,  Lebanon  and 
Lehigh  counties,  2;  valleys  in  Pennsjdvania  and  Virginia,  61;  an- 
alysis of,  from  Stemton,  11 ; from  Frantz’s  quarry,  11 ; from  Kuhn’s 

quarry 11 

Limonihs  15  ; in  Lehigh  county 79 

Lines  of  lines  of  brown  hematite  ores 16 

Litzenberger  farm,  trial  pits 42 

Lock  Ridge,  8,  58;  Potsdam  sandstone 7 

Locust  Mountain,  glacial  marks 62 

Lower  Silurian  limestones 2 

Lowering  of  the  surface 60 

Ludwig,  Herteog  and  Company 26 

Ludwig,  Hertzogand  Liess’ mine 16,18 

Ludwig’s  (new)  mine,  16, 25  ; (old) 16,26 

M’Creath,  (A.  S.,)  analyses 11, 12, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 

31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42. 

Magnesian  limestone  (dolomite,)  2,  3,  5;  formation  in  Lehigh  county,  7 

Magnetic  iron  ore,  in  Archaean  Period,  4;  mines 56 

Manganese,  black  oxide  of 25,31,34 

Maple  Grove  Mill,  trial  pits 21 

Map  accompanying  the  Report  described 57 

March’s  (P.)  mine 16,21 

Maryland,  1,3;  New  red  sandstone 4 

Mauch  Chunk,  28,29  ; mountain 60 

Meckley’s  Mine 16, 18 

Meitzler’s  Mine 16, 18 

Metamorphic  rocks  of  South  Mountain 5 

Mickley,  52;  Mickley’s  gudgeon,  54  ; mine 24 

Mill baugh  Hill 2 

Miller’s  (Charles)  mines 16,39 

Millerstown,  18,20,27  ; Iron  company 27,39 

Mining  of  brown  hematite  ores  in  Lehigh  county,  50 ; Berkshire,  Massa- 
chusetts, 50;  Northampton  county 50 

Missouri,  Saccharoidal  sandstone  formation 2 

Montgomery  county;  New  red  sandstone 4 

Moser’s  (Oliver)  mine 16,33 

Mover’s  mine 16,40 


TNDLX.  D.  1 1 

PAOS. 

Mull  and  Ilagenbuch 18 

New  Jersey;  Cretaceous  and  Tertiary  formations  of 61 

Newmoyer’s  (Jacob)  mine,  (magnetic,) 66 

New  red  sandstone,  61;  in  Adams,  Bucks,  Dauphin,  Lancaster,  Leba- 
non, Montgomery  and  York  counties,  4 ; of  Triassic  Period 4 

New  Texas 20, 28 

Nittany  Mountain  ; Birdseye  fossils  at 8 

Northampton  county,  60;  mines,  25;  mining  of  brown  hematite  ores, 

50 ; Trenton  limestone 3 

Northampton  Iron  company 33 

North  Mountain,  gaps  in,  62  ; Hudson  River  slates,  3;  rocks 62 

Note  by  the  State  Geologist 57 

Numbers  on  the  map,  representing  mines,  dips  and  levels 57 

Ochre,  (blue,)  33,46;  analysis,  32;  (yellow,) 32,35 

Ores  of  iron 15 

Origin  of  our  mountain  gaps 62 

Orthoclase,  analysis 6 

Overturned  slate 48 

Pemberton  (H.,  Jr.)  analysis  by 11 

Pennsylvania  limestone  valleys 61 

Penobscot  Knob 62 

Permian  Period. 5 

Peter’s  Mountain 62 

Philadelphia,  28;  hills 61 

Philadelphia  and  Reading  company’s  mine  at  Siessholtzville 6 

Pile  of  formations  once  covering  the  district 60 

Pipe  ore 15, 44 

Plateau  of  Thibet 60 

Port  Clinton 60 

Pot  ore 15,44 

Potsdam  sandstone,  2,4,58;  in  Lehigh  county 5 

Potsdam  epoch,  2 ; rocks * 6 

Prime  (Frederick,  Jr.) 59,62 

Pressure  productive  of  small  anticlinals,  &c 58 

Pyrite  in  Thomas  Broinig’s  mine 46 

Pyroxene,  analysis 6 

Reading,  2, 59;  Valley 61 

Relations  of  brown  hemati  te  ores  to  the  rocks 44 

Report  of  1875 59 

Robertson  (Kenneth)  analysis 25 

Rocks  of  North  Mountain 62 

Rogers  (H.  D.) 34,39 

Romig’s  (P.)  mines;  (R.) 16,28 

Ruth’s  quarry ; analysis  of  limestone 11 

Saccharoidal  sandstone  of  Missouri 2 

Sahlite,  analysis 6 

Saint  Pjeter’s  Church 5 

Salm-Chateau ; damourite-slate 14 

Salom  (Pedro  G.)  analyses.. 12 

Sampson  and  Sitgr.eaves’  mine 25 

Sandstone,  saccharoidal,  34,36;  of  North  Mountain 4 

Scale  adopted  for  the  map 57 


72  D. 


INDEX. 


PAGE. 

Schantz’s  Mill 10 

Schloug’s  mine 39 

Schmidt  and  Bitter’s  mine 29 

Scholl’s  (James)  mine 16,31 

Scholl  (J.  D.)  and  company’s  mine 16,40 

Schuylkill  Water  Gap,  1;  contour  map,  62;  river 59 

Schwartz’s  (Henry)  mine  16,  36 

Scolithus  linearis,  2 ; on  Lock  Ridge 7 

Second  range  of  brown  hematite  mines 25 

Shsefer  (John) 20 

Shankweiler’s  (Henry)  mine 16,20 

Sharp’s  (John)  mine 56 

Shimer  (Joseph  R.)  analyses 13 

Shimer  and  Hartzell 27 

Siderite,  analysis 22 

Siessholtzville 6 

Sinking  Valley 61 

Slate,  at  Walbert’s  Station,  50 ; contact  with  limestone  in  Stein’s 
(Quarry,  48;  outcrop  on  F.  Breinig’s  farm,  48;  quarry  near  Jordan 

Church,  48;  quarry  on  Steininger’s  farm 48 

Smith’s  quarry 10 

Smith’s  (J.  and  D.)  mine 16,39 

Smoky  Mountains 2 

Smoyer’s  (A.)  Mine,  16, 28 ; (B.)  16,27;  (B.  P.)  16,28;  (J.)  16,28;  (Ju- 
dith,) 16,28;  (K.)  16,23,  (T.) 16,28 

Smoyer’s  Mine,  (No.  26,)  16,30;  (No.  28,)  16,27;  (No.  78,)  16,27;  (No. 

79,)  16,27  ; (No.  80,) 16,27 

South  Mountain,  2,58,61;  Archaean  rocks  of,  6;  damourite  slate  at  base 

of,  15 ; formation 6 

Stein’s  (Henry)  mines,  16,40,41;  quarry,  8;  contact  of  slate  and  lime- 
stone  48 

Steininger’s  (Jacob)  mines,  16,40;  slate  quarry 48 

Stroudsburg  Valley 60 

Surface  of  the  earth  always  lowering 60 

Susquehanna  River 1, 2 

Swatara  Gap 1, 62 

Temple  Iron  company 19, 20 

Tennessee  ; blue  grass  country 61 

Tertiary  of  New  Jersey 61 

Theory  of  erosion  as  determined  by  solution 58, 59, 60, 61 

Thibet,  plateau 60 

Third  range  of  brown  Jiematite  mines 30 

Thomas  Iron  company,  24,40,42,52,56;  Mine,  (magnetic.  No.  46,)  56; 

(No.  52,)  23;  (No.  71,) 56 

Thomas  washer 52 

Three  known  dates  in  the  progress  of  erosion 61 

Tide  levels  on  the  map 58 

Till  (glacial  clay,  &c.,)  at  the  Lehigh  Gap 62 

Topography  and  geology  of  Lehigh  District 1 

Trenton,  Epoch,  2,5;  limestone,  5;  in  Northampton  county,  3;  ab- 
sence ill  Lehigh  county 46 

Trexlertown 27 


INDEX, 


D.  78 


PAGE. 

Triassic  Period,  New  red  sandstone 4 

Unaka  Mountains. 2 

Underground  erosion  of  the  United  States 58,60 

United  States  Highland ; elevation  of  the 61 

Upper  Primal  Slate  of  Rogers,  probably  damourite 14 

Upper  Silurian  rocks 62 

Utica  black  slate,  3, 5, 33 ; in  Lehigh  county,  46 ; analysis 32 

Vermont,  damourite  slate 14 

Virginia,  New  red  sandstone,  4;  limestone  valleys 61 

Wagenhorst’s  mine. 16, 17 

Walbert’s  Station,  slate 50 

Washer,  Bradford’s,  66;  Thomas’ 52 

Washing  and  mining  of  brown  hematite  ores 50 

Wash  ore 44 

Weiler;  (James,)  28 ; mine 16,30 

Wenderoth.  Photolithography 57 

Weilersville  mine 16,30 

Werner  and  Reinhart’s  mine 16, 29 

W escoe’s  mine. 16, 17 

Wescoeville 10 

Wetzel’s  (John)  mine,  (magnetic,) 56 

Whitely  (Nathan)  borings,  34;  mine 16,35 

Wiand’smine 16,20 

Wilkesbarre 62 

Wind  Gap 1,62 

Yager’s  mine 16,26 

York  county,  New  red  sandstone 4 


ERRATUM 


By  an  oversight  in  this  report  the  analysis  of  brown  hematite  iron  ore  from 
the  Thomas  Iron  Co.’s  Mine,  No.  52,  was  erroneously  credited  to  Hensinger  & 
Saul’s  Mine,  No.  64. 


